Maestro

Maestro was Mastercard’s PIN-based debit card brand, launched in 1991 and at its peak in circulation on over 400 million cards across 93 countries, with particular penetration in Europe, Latin America, and parts of Asia. For more than three decades it was the primary debit instrument for consumers across Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and numerous other European markets.

Mastercard discontinued Maestro as of 1 July 2023. From that date, banks and card issuers can no longer issue new Maestro-branded cards. Existing Maestro cards already in circulation before that date remain valid until their expiry date, meaning some Maestro cards will still be in use until as late as 2027 as the last issued cards reach the end of their validity cycle. After that point, Maestro will have been fully retired.

The replacement is Debit Mastercard, which carries the standard Mastercard brand and is accepted anywhere Mastercard is accepted, including online. This was the core driver of Maestro’s discontinuation: it was designed primarily for in-person PIN transactions and had significant limitations for e-commerce, including a 19-digit card number structure that caused compatibility issues with online checkout forms. Debit Mastercard resolves these limitations and supports online transactions, recurring payments, pre-authorisations, and 3DS2 authentication natively.

For merchants, the practical implications are straightforward. If your PSP and checkout accept Debit Mastercard, which all major PSPs do by default, you are already set to accept the cards replacing Maestro. The transition requires no specific action on the merchant side beyond ensuring Maestro is not listed as a standalone payment method in checkout UI in a way that might confuse consumers during the transitional period.

If your PSP reporting still shows a Maestro volume line, this will continue declining as existing cards expire, with full wind-down by 2027.

Relevant markets: Historically Europe-wide, succeeded by Debit Mastercard globally