MasterCard Adopts Maestro As Name for Its Debit Card
NEW YORK - MasterCard International has officially adopted Maestro as the brand name for its planned international, on-line debit card.
The New York-based bank card association hopes to introduce Maestro to its members around the world by the end of the year.
Details of the system - which will allow consumers to pay for goods electronically - were explained to those attending the annual Eurocard-MasterCard members' meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, last week.
A Blend of Two Cards
The Maestro debit logo, designed to be placed next to the marks of existing local, regional, and national card systems worldwide, will sport MasterCard's familiar interlocking circles. However, the Maestro mark will be blue and red - the colors of the Eurocheque logo.
Mark Van Wauve, general manager of Eurocheque International, told people at the conference that, in Europe, the Maestro logo could eventually be placed on 42 million Eurocheque cards and 60 million European bank debit cards, giving them access to a global payment system.
On-line approvals mean larger transactions will be permitted than with off-line systems.
In tests among consumers in Europe, the United States, and Canada, the Maestro mark was found to prompt high consumer recognition.
PHOTO : NEW LOGO: MasterCard's debit card blends Eurocheque colors with its own circles.
