Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit card to be rolled out in the Netherlands
Shortly, all merchants in the Netherlands will face customers holding Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit cards at their Points of Sale. It is time now to take action. What will this mean for you?
Currently, the most commonly used debit cards in the Netherlands are Mastercard’s Maestro and Visa’s V PAY. But, over the next two years, more and more issuing banks will be offering customers Debit Mastercard cards and Visa Debit cards, already widely used in the rest of Europe. As a result, an increasing number of your customers will want to use them for their payment transactions. However, not all POS terminals have the software they need to accept them, so some of them will need an upgrade.
ING will do the upgrade for you
If your POS terminals do not currently accept credit cards, they will need a software upgrade. If they do accept Mastercard and Visa credit cards they won’t need an upgrade to accept the debit cards, but, because the change will impact pricing, (see below), they will need upgrading. In both cases, while you are responsible for this upgrade, together with your terminal provider (or service partner – the party that supplies your cash registers or takes care of your terminals), ING will facilitate the upgrade for you, you will not need to take action.
As your bank, ING will make sure the software upgrade is carried out automatically. You will be informed once the upgrade is complete, and from that moment on your terminals will accept Debit Mastercards and Visa Debit cards issued in the Netherlands, as well as in the rest of the EEA, including Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Older terminals may need replacing
Unfortunately, a small proportion of older terminals are unable to be upgraded. These terminals are listed below in question 3. If you have one or more of these terminals, they will need to be replaced.
Price consequences
If you currently only accept Maestro and V-Pay debit cards:
In this case, the same rates will apply to transactions made with Debit Mastercards and Visa Debit cards issued in the EEA, as to transactions made with Maestro and V Pay cards, at least until your contract renewal date with ING.
If you currently accept Mastercard and Visa credit cards:
Even though you currently pay one rate for both credit card and debit card transactions, in the new situation two different rates will apply, and this may be beneficial for you. The price of credit card transactions will remain as it is, while the current rate for Maestro and V Pay transactions (usually better than for credit card transactions) will apply to Debit Mastercards and Visa Debit cards transactions. This situation will apply at least until your contract renewal date.
Moving forward
If you want to start optimizing your stores to accept all cards from Mastercard and Visa straight away, or have questions about these changes, please get in touch with your ING account manager. You are reminded to start now, although you have until the end of 2024 to complete the process.
Q&As
1. Is the roll-out of these cards a market-wide initiative?
Yes. The Payments Association Netherlands (‘Betaalvereniging Nederland’) is coordinating a central programme to ensure the timely upgrade of the entire payment landscape in the Netherlands. To make sure that the reach of the Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit card ultimately equals that of Maestro and V Pay, a nationwide roll-out is starting in 2022; ING is following this timeline for implementation among merchants. For more information, please visit the Association’s website.
2. Will my customers still be able to pay with their Maestro and V PAY cards after the roll-out?
Yes. Maestro and V Pay cards will still be accepted on terminals that have, where necessary, been upgraded to accept Debit Mastercards and Visa Debit cards.
3. Can my terminals be upgraded?
A small portion of older terminals, are unable to be upgraded. These terminals are listed here. If you are unsure whether you need to replace your terminal, please contact your terminal supplier. Replacement will ensure that your customers can continue to make payment transactions in your store.
Terminal types that can not be upgraded:
| Model type |
|---|
Vx570-Vx820 |
Vx570 /Vx810 |
Vx670 |
VX825 ITS |
OPP-B50 |
OPP-C60 |
OPM-C60 |
OMNI2250 |
OMNI3750 |
4. I already accept Mastercard and Visa credit cards. What will be the impact of adding Debit Mastercards and Visa Debit cards
If you currently accept credit cards via ING as an acquirer:
If you already accept credit cards, you are already prepared for ‘full acceptance’, i.e. for both credit and debit card transactions. The price rates that currently apply to Maestro and V PAY transactions will, after the update, also apply to your Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit card transactions (cards issued in EEA, including Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), provided that the required software upgrade has been rolled out to your terminals. After the roll-out, ING will continue to apply these rates for Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit card transactions carried out with cards issued in EEA countries until the contract renewal date.
If you currently accept credit cards via a third-party acquirer, with ING as your Maestro and V Pay card acquirer:
Your terminals will need a software upgrade to ensure all EEA debit card transactions are treated correctly. After the terminal upgrade, Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit card transactions carried out using cards issued in EEA countries, will be routed to ING as your debit acquirer. Until the contract renewal date, ING will apply the same pricing for these Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit card transactions as it does for Maestro and V Pay card transactions. All other card transactions will continue to be routed to your third-party credit card acquirer, who will also bill these transactions.
5. What if I don’t want to accept credit card payments?
While there is no immediate need to make this change, by the end of 2024 all merchants will be obliged to accept all card products from Mastercard and Visa, under the Honor All Cards Rule, which states that if a merchant accepts one type of that brand’s cards, they must accept them all. Merchants who accept Visa and Mastercards’ debit cards are also required to accept Visa and Mastercard’s credit cards (if they are issued outside EEA)
This means that if you as a merchant accept any kind of Mastercard or Visa card, you must accept all Mastercards or Visa cards: debit, credit, prepaid and commercial. However, legislation does allow you, as a merchant, to refuse acceptance of credit cards issued in the EEA that are in scope of the Interchange Fee Regulation, article 10; if you wish to arrange this, you can reach out to your terminal supplier.
6. How do I know if my terminal accepts Debit Mastercards and Visa Debit cards?
If you already accept credit cards, you will already be able to accept these ‘new’ cards. If you currently only accept debit cards (Maestro and V PAY) , ING will send you confirmation when the remote software upgrade to your terminal is complete, facilitating acceptance of these new cards.
7. Reporting and reconciliation
In most cases nothing will change in your reporting and overview of your pay-outs. In some cases, however, Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit transactions will have separate pay-outs, and you will receive two extra pay-outs per day, as well as those you currently receive. If this is the case, it will be stated in the letter you receive from ING, and you will find the following codes on your bank statement:
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Naam: ING DD&C Omschrijving: AFREK FILIAAL DBMC REFNR. 822927 DAT 20230216/2047 AANT. 145 IBAN: NL62INGB0xxxxxxxxx Kenmerk: 47645088860 Valutadatum: 17-02-2023 |
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Naam: ING DD&C Omschrijving: AFREK FILIAAL VIDB REFNR. 822927 DAT 20230216/2047 AANT. 23 IBAN: NL62INGB0xxxxxxxxx Kenmerk: 47645089390 Valutadatum: 17-02-2023 |
8. My POS terminal indicates that the customer must sign. Why?
Your POS terminal may request to verify the cardholder who wants to make a payment. Usually by asking the cardholder to enter the PIN code of the card. However, instead of a request to enter the PIN code, the terminal can indicate that a signature from the cardholder is required for verification. The terminal acts on what is specified in the chip of the card: the verification method to be used is stored in the chip of the card. For Maestro and VPAY cards this is always the PIN Code. Usually for Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit cards as well, but in exceptional cases this can be a signature.