Eurocard (payment card)

Eurocard (payment card)

History

EUROCARD was introduced in 1964 by a Swedish banker Wallenberg, as an alternative to American Express [ [http://www.servired.es/ingles/evolucion.htm 0 ] ] .

In 1965, EUROCARD International N.V. was established, based in Brussels, as a not-for-profit membership association of European banks. Its operational entity was established as European Payment System Services (EPSS).

In 1968, EUROCARD International and MasterCard International entered into a strategic alliance, in which both issuer's cards would be accepted on either network. It allowed MasterCard to get an instant European acceptance network, and EUROCARD to get accepted worldwide. EUROCARD International got the sole license to issue MasterCard cards in Europe.

In 1992, EUROCARD International N.V., eurocheque International C.V. and eurocheque International Holding N.V. merged into a single company, Europay International S.A., and were relocated to Waterloo, Belgium. This location also housed the Europe, Middle-East and Africa region of MasterCard International, and the seat of the Eurocard-MasterCard joint-venture, Maestro International.

In 2002, Europay International and MasterCard International merged. The name Europay disappeared, and the new organisation was later renamed MasterCard Worldwide.

EUROCARD has always been the dominant brand in Northern European countries, more specifically in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria. It lagged behind Visa in Southern European countries, such as Spain and France [ [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52002XC0413(02):EN:HTML EUR-Lex - 52002XC0413(02) - EN ] ] .

Today, the EUROCARD name exists as an issuer brand in combination with the MasterCard acceptance mark. This means that the Eurocard name is still used on a card, although only the MasterCard logo is displayed at locations which accept both. The EUROCARD logo is not used any more.

External links

* [http://www.eurocard.se Swedish EUROCARD website]
* [http://www.eurocard.dk Danish EUROCARD website]
* [http://www.eurocard.no Norwegian EUROCARD website]
* [http://www.eurocardgold.fi Finnish EUROCARD website]

References


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