Switch (debit card)

Switch was a national debit card scheme in the UK .

The system introduced by some of the major British banks in 1988 was the only debit card available in Great Britain , along with its sister product Solo , before the introduction of the debit card variants of common credit cards , namely Visa Debit, in the early 1990s and thus enjoyed great popularity and almost nationwide Distribution.

Switch was distinguished by the fact that, unlike Solo, offline transactions at checkouts were also enabled early on and, unlike, for example, German debit cards, it was also enabled for remote sales (mail order, internet). Switch cards were usually embossed, since in the event of technical malfunctions, recourse to the creation of a debit receipt with an imprinter was permitted. In the 2000s, "Chip & PIN" (EMV) technology was also introduced on British Switch / Maestro cards.

Migration to Maestro

In 2002 it was decided to integrate the system into the international Maestro network in order to enable it to be used abroad. Since then, British Switch cardholders have been able to make cashless payments at all Maestro acceptance points worldwide. Conversely, however, this only applies to a limited extent, as the payments in Great Britain until 2011 were still partially processed via the old switch background system. Foreign Maestro cards were not accepted at such cash registers.

This repeatedly caused confusion, as a customer at the British acceptance points now only sees the uniform Maestro logo, but cannot see whether it is a "real" Maestro cash register (all domestic and foreign Maestro Cards accepted) or, technically speaking, a switch cash register (which can only process British cards).

Ultimately, a complete migration to Maestro, as it was successfully carried out in Austria , Switzerland and the Netherlands , did not take place until 2011, when the last special regulations for " UK Domestic Maestro " (UKDM) were no longer applicable. Rather, the Switch cards were only expanded to include Maestro functionality as part of a co-branding , with the Switch brand name and logo disappearing.

In the meantime, the number of Maestro cards issued in Great Britain has fallen sharply. Only a few institutions like Clydesdale Bank and Al Rayan Bank still issue Maestro cards. The market is now dominated by Visa Debit and Debit MasterCard. Individual banks such as Halifax issue Visa Electron cards to customers with poor credit ratings.