Starting from 1 July, the approximately 10 million Maestro bank cards in Belgium will gradually be phased out and replaced with Debit Mastercards, according to issuer

Mastercard. The transition, which aims to provide a better card for online shopping, is expected to take up to five years to complete.

The Maestro brand has been in existence since 1991 and was considered revolutionary at the time for enabling secure payments across various European countries. However, as the digital age has progressed, Maestro's capabilities have become outdated, particularly in the realm of online payments. To address this, the Debit Mastercard will take its place. Similar to a credit card, the Debit Mastercard deducts funds directly from the user's account when a payment is made. Mastercard states that the new card offers enhanced options for online payments.

Current Maestro cardholders need not take any immediate action. Once their Maestro card expires, the bank will automatically issue a new debit card with a different and shorter card number. The replacement card will remain linked to the existing account and function in the same way.

While Mastercard has held a dominant position in the Belgian market with Maestro, BNP Paribas Fortis, the market leader, shifted to competitor VISA for its debit cards two years ago. Photo by iToms, Wikimedia commons.