Business cards News

Switch was a debit card used in the United Kingdom. It was a sister of the Solo debit card. Switch was launched in 1988 by Midland Bank, National Westminster Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland. The brand has now been merged with Maestro, an international debit card brand. This merger has been referred to as the “penguin wedding” with distinctive advertisements of the penguins in different international settings, by Joel Veitch. However, despite the Maestro brand name, the transactions in the UK are still processed by the Switch system.

This means that many retailers in the UK who advertise that they accept Maestro can only accept UK-issued Maestro cards i.e. former switch cards. This situation creates a lot of confusion for tourists, business people and others visiting the UK as they often have their Maestro cards declined.

See also

• Solo (debit card)

External links

• Official site