Location | Ireland |
---|---|
Launched | April 1996 |
Discontinued | 28 February 2014 |
Technology |
|
Operator | Laser Card Services Ltd |
Currency | Euro (2002–2014) Irish pounds (1996–2002) |
Laser was a debit card scheme in Ireland between 1996 and 2014.
The Laser scheme was maintained and operated by Laser Card Services Ltd., a not for profit [1] body owned by four leading financial institutions in Ireland [2] and overseen since 2008 by the Oversight Unit of the Central Bank. [3] The scheme was launched in April 1996 [4] , and in 2010, there were almost three million Laser cards in circulation. [5]
195 million transactions worth almost €11.2 billion were carried out on those cards in 2009. [6] From 2007, [7] the financial institutions which had issued Laser cards began to replace them with Visa or MasterCard debit cards. Laser cards were withdrawn from the market on 28 February 2014.
Laser was primarily an electronic point of sale debit card, but could also be used by telephone and internet, at ATMs and to pay regular bills by direct debit.
When purchasing goods or services with a Laser card up to €100 cashback could be given to cardholders and this value was simply added to the purchase price. Some retailers set a lower maximum cashback value, depending on what cash was available to them in the till or their own policy. [8] Many Irish businesses that operate online accepted Laser cards prior to their discontinuation.
From 2005, some Laser card holders were provided with co branded Laser/Maestro cards; from 1 January 2008, all Laser cards were co branded. The co branded cards were chip and PIN cards with both Laser and Maestro functions. The Laser facility was for use in the Republic of Ireland only whereas the Maestro facility was, in theory, used both domestically and internationally, but international Maestro payments were quite often rejected.
The Maestro facility was not usable internationally online or by telephone. While it was possible for any bank in the Single Euro Payments Area, regardless of location, to join the Laser card scheme, no interest in joining the scheme was expressed by banks outside Ireland. [9]
In 2007, Halifax Ireland announced that it would be the first bank in the Republic of Ireland to offer a Visa Debit card rather than the Laser debit card (Halifax was never a member of Laser Card Services Limited). In 2008, Ulster Bank dropped Laser, in favour of Visa Debit. Permanent TSB withdrew Laser cards and began to replace them with Visa Debit cards in September 2010. [10]
In the end of October 2010, Bank of Ireland announced they were ceasing their involvement in the partnership in 2011. [11]
On 9 February 2011, EBS Building Society said that it would issue MasterCard debit cards instead of Laser from the second half of 2011. [12]
In July 2011, AIB announced that it would cease issuing Laser cards from 2011, [13] leaving National Irish Bank as the final issuer in the Laser card system, leading to speculation that the scheme would close in 2012. [14] It was reported that banks were turning away from Laser because of some difficulties encountered by consumers in making online purchases. [15]
However, customers began to complain almost immediately about numerous difficulties caused by the premature withdrawal of Laser cards. [16] [17] Some retailers who were able to give cashback on Laser cards were unwilling or unable to do so on the replacement cards; Permanent TSB issued a second replacement Visa Debit card to its customers in April 2011 due to the initial replacement chip and some older terminals not being compatible (resulting in refusal of cashback).
Other retailers who had been charged a small flat-rate per-transaction fee for Laser transactions found that they were charged a percentage of the value of the transaction for the replacement cards. Organisations such as Betfair which did not charge customers for Laser card transactions began to charge these customers 1.5% commission on transactions using the replacement Visa Debit cards. [18]
Merchant services companies did not advertise whether there were any differences in their charges for the two types of debit card. [19] Some customers reported being charged foreign usage fees on Visa Debit cards in Northern Ireland, which had not been charged on the old cards. [20]
Ogone, ICEPAY, WorldPay, Netbanx.com, Moneybookers.com, CreditCall, DataCash, Realex, TNS and SagePay provided Laser payment gateways.
A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either the front or the back. Many of the new cards now have a chip on them, which allows people to use their card by touch (contactless), or by inserting the card and keying in a PIN as with swiping the magnetic stripe. These are similar to a credit card, but unlike a credit card, the money for the purchase must be in the cardholder's bank account at the time of the purchase and is immediately transferred directly from that account to the merchant's account to pay for the purchase.
Electronic funds transfer at point of sale is an electronic payment system involving electronic funds transfers based on the use of payment cards, such as debit cards or credit cards, at payment terminals located at points of sale. EFTPOS technology was developed during the 1980s.
Visa Inc. is an American multinational payment card services corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards. Visa is one of the world's most valuable companies.
A charge card is a type of credit card that enables the cardholder to make purchases which are paid for by the card issuer, to whom the cardholder becomes indebted. The cardholder is obligated to repay the debt to the card issuer in full by the due date, usually on a monthly basis, or be subject to late fees and restrictions on further card use. Charge cards are distinct from credit cards in that credit cards are revolving credit instruments that do not need to be paid in full every month and a balance may be carried over, on which interest is paid. Charge cards are typically issued without spending limits, whereas credit cards usually have a specified credit limit that the cardholder may not exceed. Most charge cards are held by businesses, corporations or executives thereof, and are issued to customers with a good or excellent credit score.
Mastercard Inc. is an American multinational payment card services corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York. It offers a range of payment transaction processing and other related-payment services. Its headquarters are in Purchase, New York. Throughout the world, its principal business is to process payments between the banks of merchants and the card-issuing banks or credit unions of the purchasers who use the Mastercard-brand debit, credit and prepaid cards to make purchases. Mastercard has been publicly traded since 2006.
EMV is a payment method based on a technical standard for smart payment cards and for payment terminals and automated teller machines which can accept them. EMV stands for "Europay, Mastercard, and Visa", the three companies that created the standard.
Solo was a debit card in the United Kingdom introduced as a sister to the then existing Switch. Launched on 1 July 1997, by the Switch Card Scheme, it was designed for use on deposit accounts, as well as by customers who did not qualify for a Switch card on current accounts, such as teenagers. The Solo card scheme was decommissioned permanently on 31 March 2011.
Switch was a debit card brand in the United Kingdom from 1988 until 2002. It was then merged with Maestro, which is owned by MasterCard.
Visa Electron was a debit card product that uses the Visa payment system. It is offered by issuing banks in every country with the exception of Canada, Australia, Argentina, Ireland and the United States. The difference between Visa Electron and Visa Debit, a similar product, is that payments with Visa Electron always require on-line electronic authorisation, and typically require that all the funds be available at the time of transfer, i.e., Visa Electron card accounts may not normally be overdrawn. Most Visa Debit cards, on the other hand, may be processed offline, without online authorisation, and may allow transfers exceeding available funds up to a certain limit. For that reason, Visa Electron cards are more commonly issued to younger customers or customers that have poor credit. Some online stores and all offline terminals do not support Visa Electron because their systems cannot check for the availability of funds. In addition to point of sale debit payments, the card also allows the holder to withdraw cash from automated teller machines (ATMs) using the Plus interbank network.
Visa Debit is a major brand of debit card issued by Visa in many countries around the world. Numerous banks and financial institutions issue Visa Debit cards to their customers for access to their bank accounts. In many countries the Visa Debit functionality is often incorporated on the same plastic card that allows access to ATM and any domestic networks like EFTPOS or Interac.
Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and make payments by electronic transfer with a payment terminal and access automated teller machines (ATMs). Such cards are known by a variety of names, including bank cards, ATM cards, client cards, key cards or cash cards.
Merchant Account Providers give businesses the ability to accept debit and credit cards in payment for goods and services. This can be face-to-face, on the telephone, or over the internet.
Debit card cashback is a service offered to retail customers whereby an amount is added to the total purchase price of a transaction paid by debit card and the customer receives that amount in cash along with the purchase. For example, a customer purchasing $18.99 worth of goods at a supermarket might ask for twenty dollars cashback. The customer would approve a debit payment of $38.99 to the store, and the cashier would then give the customer $20 in cash.
ATM usage fees are the fees that many banks and interbank networks charge for the use of their automated teller machines (ATMs). In some cases, these fees are assessed solely for non-members of the bank; in other cases, they apply to all users. There is usually a higher fee for use of White-label ATMs rather than bank owned ATMs.
Interchange fee is a term used in the payment card industry to describe a fee paid between banks for the acceptance of card-based transactions. Usually for sales/services transactions it is a fee that a merchant's bank pays a customer's bank.
The Green Dot Corporation is an American financial technology and bank holding company headquartered in Austin, Texas. It is the world's largest prepaid debit card company by market capitalization. Green Dot is also a payment platform company and is the technology platform used by Apple Cash, Uber, and Intuit. The company was founded in 1999 by Steve Streit as a prepaid debit card for teenagers to shop online. In 2001, the company pivoted to serving the "unbanked" and "underbanked" communities. In 2010, Green Dot Corporation went public with a valuation of $2 billion. Since its inception, Green Dot has acquired a number of companies in the mobile, financial, and tax industries including Loopt, AccountNow, AchieveCard, UniRush Financial Services, and Santa Barbara Tax Products Group.
A credit card is a payment card, usually issued by a bank, allowing its users to purchase goods or services or withdraw cash on credit. Using the card thus accrues debt that has to be repaid later. Credit cards are one of the most widely used forms of payment across the world.
girocard is an interbank network and debit card service connecting virtually all automated teller machines (ATMs) and banks. It is based on standards and agreements developed by the German Banking Industry Committee.
Debit Mastercard is a brand of debit cards provided by Mastercard. They use the same systems as standard Mastercard credit cards but they do not use a line of credit to the customer, instead relying on funds that the customer has in their bank account.
RuPay is an Indian multinational financial services and payment service system, conceived and launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2012. It was created to fulfil the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) vision of establishing a domestic, open and multilateral system of payments. RuPay facilitates electronic payment at all Indian banks and financial institutions. NPCI maintains ties with Discover Financial and JCB to enable the RuPay Card scheme to gain international acceptance.
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