Switch was a
debit card brand in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
from 1988 until 2002. It was then merged with
Maestro
Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning "master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera, in line with the ubiqu ...
, which is owned by
MasterCard.
History
Switch was launched in 1988 by
Midland Bank
Midland Bank Plc was one of the Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birmingham, England in August 1836. It ...
,
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, i ...
and
The Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Ba ...
as a multifunction
cheque guarantee
A cheque guarantee card was an abbreviated portable letter of credit granted by a bank to a qualified depositor in the form of a plastic card that was used in conjunction with a cheque.
The scheme provided retailers accepting cheques with grea ...
and
cash card
Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner (the cardholder) to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and ma ...
. The brand was merged with
Maestro
Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning "master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera, in line with the ubiqu ...
, an international debit card brand owned by
Mastercard, at the end of 2002.
This merger was referred to as the "penguin wedding," due to it
distinctive advertisementsof penguins in different international settings created by
Joel Veitch
Joel Veitch (born 28 March 1974) is a British web animator, singer-songwriter, and member of the humour website B3ta. Veitch is owner of the web site RatherGood where he showcases many of his animations. Joel has also created the Mr. Stabby an ...
. Since then, Switch has been out of circulation and banks migrated customers from Switch to
Maestro
Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning "master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera, in line with the ubiqu ...
.
The deal was announced in August 2002.
The merger was also intended to increase the acceptance of foreign
Maestro
Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning "master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera, in line with the ubiqu ...
cards in the United Kingdom. However, despite the ''Maestro'' brand name, point of sale transactions in the United Kingdom were still processed by Switch Card Services Limited, later S2 Card Services Limited.
Consequently, many retailers who advertise that they accept Maestro could only accept cards issued in the United Kingdom, i.e. former Switch cards that supported both UK Domestic Maestro (UKDM) and Maestro International functionality. In March 2011, Mastercard aligned UK Domestic Maestro with the standard international Maestro proposition, ending its status as a separate card scheme.
This change also led to the discontinuation of
Solo
Solo or SOLO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Comics
* ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series
* Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics
Characters
* Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character
* Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...
debit cards.
Switch/Maestro cards issued by certain banks carried an
issue number on the bottom of the card corresponding to the number of times a card had been issued on a particular account. This was usually because the
current account Current account or Current Account may refer to:
* Current account (balance of payments), a country's balance of trade, net of factor income and cash transfers
* Current account (banking)
A transaction account, also called a checking account, ch ...
number the card was linked to actually formed a large part of the card number, and therefore the card number could not be readily changed in case of loss or the card expiring.
The term "Switch" was commonly used to refer to debit cards in the United Kingdom; however, the brand is largely forgotten now.
In January 2009,
First Direct
First Direct (styled first direct) is a telephone and internet based retail bank division of HSBC Bank plc based in the United Kingdom. First Direct has headquarters in Leeds, England, and has 1.45 million customers. It was awarded Most T ...
and
HSBC discontinued the use of Maestro card, issuing
Visa Debit
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 ...
cards to new customers, and a gradual roll out throughout 2009 to existing customers. In September of the same year,
Clydesdale Bank
Clydesdale Bank ( gd, Banca Dhail Chluaidh) is a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in Scotland.
In June 2018, it was announced that Clydesdale Bank's holding company CYBG would acquire Virgin Money for ...
and
Yorkshire Bank, both owned by
National Australia Bank, started the process of replacing the Maestro card with a
Debit Mastercard
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 ...
for their current accounts, except for the Readycash and Student accounts, for which the Maestro card continued to be issued.
Likewise, in the same month the then
Royal Bank of Scotland Group
NatWest Group plc is a British banking and insurance holding company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The group operates a wide variety of banking brands offering personal and business banking, private banking, investment banking, insurance and ...
(Europe's largest debit card issuer which includes the
Royal Bank of Scotland,
NatWest,
Coutts
Coutts & Co. is a London-headquartered private bank and wealth manager. Founded in 1692, it is the eighth oldest bank in the world. Today, Coutts forms part of NatWest Group's wealth management division. In the Channel Islands and the Isle of ...
and
Ulster Bank
Ulster Bank ( ga, Banc Uladh) is a large retail bank, and one of the traditional Big Four (banking)#Ireland, Big Four Irish clearing banks. The Ulster Bank Group is subdivided into two separate legal entities: NatWest, National Westminster Ban ...
) switched from Maestro to Visa Debit, a process that would take two years to complete.
Visa Debit
Ulster Bank
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Switch (Debit Card)
Debit cards
1988 establishments in the United Kingdom
2002 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
NatWest Group