Credit Cards

[Nicholas Clark]

On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 05:41:53PM +0100, Dominic Thoreau wrote:
> 2009/10/13 Abigail <abigail at abigail.be>:
> 
> > accepted my ATM card (no zip code required). I was positively surprised
> > by the ability to use my ATM card for retail, because as soon as I step
> > accross the border here in Europe, I can only use my ATM card at banks,
> > not retailers.
> 
> I remember late last year in Amsterdam, trying to pay my hotel bill
> with my Maestro card and having it refused. Despite there being a sign
> on the desk saying they accepted it.

Aha, so there are at least 3 systems misbranded as Maestro.
UK (not sure if Ireland interworks)
The Netherlands
Austria and at least Slovenia


> So I applied for a credit card (and got it, with a credit limit 4
> times higher than I actually wanted) - and lo, six months later the
> bank re-issued my Maestro as a Visa Debit....

See http://london.pm.org/pipermail/london.pm/Week-of-Mon-20090928/018102.html
for an explanation of the whole sorry mess.

Nicholas Clark