Irish debit/credit cards in Sweden

M

mylo

Guest
Just back from Sweden, and had some odd experiences with my cards:
  • BOI Laser/Maestro (chip&pin) froze their PIN machines. Call for authorisation. Not accepted at all in H&M.
  • AIB Visa: froze at the enter PIN stage.
  • MBNA platinum Mastercard (chip&pin). PIN usually bypassed. Call for authorisation and/or present photo ID. Best of the bunch.
A friend has their Laser/Maestro Card with AIB, and had no hassle whatsoever.

Question: if Laser is meant to be a proper Maestro card, how come it doesn't work in Heathrow??
 
Laser has nothing to do with Maestro, Cirrus, Plus+ etc. The former is a debit card system specific to Ireland and cannot be used for purchases abroad. The latter are additional card options which allow you to withdraw money from your account using ATMs abroad. In € zone countries the same charges should apply as in Ireland. Note that Sweden and UK are not in the € zone though so the charges may differ and there may be other issues militating against the seamless use of these card options in those countries. I'm not sure.
 
The former is a debit card system specific to Ireland and cannot be used for purchases abroad. The latter are additional card options which allow you to withdraw money from your account using ATMs abroad.
Click to expand...

There are two flavours of Maestro. The new one (which AIB support on new "Laser" cards) is supposed to be a pan-European debit card from MasterCard. Odd that AIB debit card worked but AIB credit card didn't!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top