A Look at the Changes to Maestro-Aus: What Customers Need to Know

Many customers in Germany have a Girocard (also called an EC card by many), which also bears a Maestro logo and thus offers the Maestro function. With this function of the provider Mastercard, you can also withdraw money abroad. But now Mastercard has decided to end this additional function.

However, the cards that are currently in circulation can still be used until the end of their validity. For the time being, nothing will change for customers. After the Maestro exit, you can continue to pay and withdraw money with your old Girocard – even abroad.

With the classic Girocard you can pay at home and abroad, for example at the supermarket checkout, but this is usually not possible when shopping online. This is the main reason why numerous banks are replacing their giro cards with so-called debit cards.

The debit card (or giro card with debit function), which is intended to replace the giro card with Maestro function, is a mix of giro card and credit card. The main difference lies in the billing: While credit cards are usually billed once a month, with the debit card each individual amount is deducted from the account immediately after payment – as was previously the case with the classic EC card. A short-term loan is not granted.

And: If you want to rent a car or reserve a hotel abroad, this is usually only possible with a credit card. Fees are often charged for withdrawing money and paying by credit card in non-EU countries. This may also be the case with debit cards in the future.

The catch with the debit card: not all retailers accept it yet. The reason: The fees for transactions with the debit card are up to four times higher than with the giro card. This is a problem for smaller retailers with low turnover. As a rule, debit cards can be used wherever you can also pay by credit card.

And the debit cards have another disadvantage: the ChipTan procedure for online banking, which experts describe as secure, does not exist for the debit card.

Although you can shop online and pay abroad with the new debit cards, it is very likely that the familiar credit cards will continue to exist. They wouldn’t actually be necessary – at least not if debit cards were accepted everywhere and you don’t have to rely on short-term credit from a credit card.

Card readers that can also read credit cards require an extra activation – and that costs money! This is usually not worthwhile, especially for retailers with a low turnover. That’s why some shops have the sign “No credit card payment possible.” There is no obligation to accept credit cards or other means of payment. Retailers only have to take cash.