Fibonatix News

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From industry news to company updates, here you can find all the information you need about Fibonatix, the payments space and new opportunities that can help your business grow!

RECENT NEWS:

How the Russian Invasion of Ukraine Affects Payments

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the 24th of February, the US government imposed sanctions on multiple Russian banks. This in turn, prompted Visa and Mastercard to block multiple Russian banks and financial institutions from their networks to comply with the government sanctions. Furthermore, the US, the UK, the EU, and Canada removed major Russian banks from the SWIFT network which facilitates international funds transfers.

?What does that mean?

• Merchants are unable to accept Russian issued cards as well as cards issued outside of Russia by Russian-owned banks and issuers.
• Refunds performed on transactions made with Russian issued cards as well as cards issued outside of Russia by Russian-owned banks and issuers will likely not reach the cardholders as Visa and Mastercard cannot transfer funds to the relevant issuers.
• As a result, chargebacks will most likely rise as cardholders will not be able to receive funds of refunds. It is unclear at this stage whether they will receive the funds charged back as this also cannot be transferred to the relevant issuers.
• Many Russian-based merchants and cardholders are scrambling to find alternative solutions in surrounding countries such as: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Mastercard to Discontinue Maestro

Mastercard has recently announced it will be retiring its Maestro card and replacing it with Mastercard Debit. The reason for this change is the growth of e-commerce (especially during the pandemic years) outpacing in-store payments, combined with the technological challenges for the Maestro system which was built primarily for in-store payments. According to Mastercard, Maestro cards cannot consistently be used for e-commerce payments, in part because the numbering convention on Maestro cards (up to 19 digits) is not compatible with widely used e-commerce portals.

After being in circulation for more than 30 years, the decision to discontinue Maestro is a significant one, with many implications for merchants and their customers worldwide.

What do you need to know?

• As of the 1st?of July 2023, issuers will no longer be able to issue Maestro cards. Renewals, and replacements of all Maestro cards will be issued as Mastercard
• Merchants who are currently accepting Maestro are also technically able to accept Mastercard Debit so there shouldn’t be any issues either with e-commerce or in-store purchases.
• Maestro cards issued before the 1st?of July 2023 may remain in circulation and continue to work as usual until they reach their expiration date. This means that Maestro cards will be functioning until around 2027 at the latest.

Check out our latest website content!

4 Key subscription-based payment model challenges for merchants.

Merchant's Guide to Chargeback Management

6 payment gateway functionality must-haves for E-commerce companies

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