Eurocard was a

credit card A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...

, introduced in 1964 by a Swedish banker in the

Wallenberg family The Wallenberg family is a prominent Swedish family, Europe's most powerful business dynasty. Wallenbergs are noted as bankers, industrialists, politicians, bureaucrats, diplomats and military. The Wallenberg sphere's holdings employ about 600 ...

as an alternative to

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

. In 1968, it signed a deal with the Interbank Card Association (today's MasterCard) so that their cards were accepted by each other's networks; this eventually led to a joint venture known as Maestro International in 1992, and merger in 2002. Its operations were relocated to Belgium in the end of the 1960s, and the card became the dominant brand in North and Central Europe between 1970 and 2002. It was eventually replaced by the Mastercard brand in most locations, but its logo is still used in some countries.

History

In 1965, Eurocard International N.V. was established, based in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, as a

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

membership association of European

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

s. Its operational entity was established as European Payment System Services (EPSS). In 1968, Eurocard International and the Interbank Card Association entered into a

strategic alliance A strategic alliance (also see strategic partnership) is an agreement between two or more parties to pursue a set of agreed upon objectives needed while remaining independent organizations. The alliance is a cooperation or collaboration which ai ...

, in which both issuer's cards would be accepted on either network. This allowed the ICA to get an instant European acceptance network, and Eurocard to get accepted worldwide. Eurocard International got the sole license to issue the ICA's Master Charge (later MasterCard) cards in Europe. In 1992, Eurocard International N.V.,

Eurocheque The Eurocheque was a type of cheque used in Europe that was accepted across national borders and which could be written in a variety of currencies. Eurocheques were originally introduced in 1969 as an alternative to the traveler's cheque and for i ...

International C.V. and Eurocheque International Holding N.V. merged into a single company,

Europay International Europay International was a financial company. It was created by the merger of Eurocard International and Eurocheque International and was headquartered in Waterloo, Belgium, on the same premises as EPSS (European Payment Systems Services) and M ...

S.A., and were relocated to

Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo (, ; wa, Waterlô) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in Wallonia, located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium, which in 2011 had a population of 29,706 and an area of . Waterloo lies a short distance south of Brussels, ...

. This location also housed the Europe, Middle East and Africa region of MasterCard International, and the seat of the joint venture of Eurocard MasterCard, Maestro International. In 2002, Europay International and MasterCard International merged. The name Europay disappeared, and the new organisation was later renamed MasterCard Worldwide, with the headquarters in

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...

renamed MasterCard Europe. In 2008, Eurocard was taken over by the Swedish

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (, abbreviated SEB, is a northern European financial services group headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In Sweden and the Baltic countries, SEB has a full financial service offering. In Denmark, Finland, Norway, ...

. Eurocard has always been the dominant brand in Central European countries, more specifically in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. It lagged behind

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

in southern European countries, such as

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

.EUR-Lex - 52002XC0413(02) - EN
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Acceptance mark

Today, the Eurocard name exists in combination with the MasterCard

acceptance mark A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...

as a product name. This means that the Eurocard name is still used on a card, although only the MasterCard logo is displayed at locations which accept MasterCard cards. The Eurocard logo is not used any more, as the

is discontinued and merged into MasterCard. However, the use of Eurocard as a brand for MasterCard credit cards is limited to Scandinavian countries and the Baltic countries. In other former Eurocard markets, such as the German speaking countries, this brand was fully replaced by the MasterCard brand.

References

External links

Eurocard International website
{{Credit cards Companies related to the Wallenberg family Credit cards Credit card issuer associations 1964 establishments in Sweden 1964 establishments in Europe Organizations established in 1965 1965 establishments in Belgium 1992 mergers and acquisitions 2002 mergers and acquisitions 2008 mergers and acquisitions Products and services discontinued in 2002