Maestro is a debit brand for which Mastercard stopped new issuance in Europe from July 2023, and in Finland too, cards are being replaced with Debit Mastercard as they expire. So the right way to view introduction at this point is not as targeting a new market, but as a complementary tool for not missing payments from existing holders still using a valid Maestro card.

If you already accept Visa/Mastercard debit, the benefit of adopting Maestro alone is limited. To broaden coverage of local Finnish customers, it makes more sense to first consider local methods such as bank-link payments or MobilePay, and to position Maestro as covering residual demand during the transition.

When a holder of a still-valid Maestro card makes a payment, it goes through the Mastercard network's approval process, and as an EU online card transaction, 3DS authentication under PSD2's SCA (Strong Customer Authentication) may apply. The approved amount is collected by Hecto Financial in euros (EUR), converted, and settled to the Korean merchant in USD, KRW, or JPY as contracted.

Within the scope of card acceptance integration through Hecto Financial, you can consider whether processing of remaining Maestro card payments is available. Since the brand is being phased down, please confirm the actual support scope and the status of the Debit Mastercard transition at the time of integration before contracting.

• Business registration country

  Confirm contract eligibility for Korea-based merchants

• Sales channel

  The integration method and priority vary depending on your online sales channel mix, such as owned storefronts, marketplaces, or mobile apps

• Product category

  Advance confirmation is needed as to whether your products fall under restricted categories per Maestro's merchant policies

• EU regulatory compliance

  Confirmation is needed as to whether EU payment regulations such as PSD2 and SEPA are followed (see official sources below)

Maestro transaction amounts are collected by Hecto Financial in euros (EUR) and, after conversion, are settled in whichever of USD, KRW, or JPY was selected in the contract. Since this is a brand undergoing card replacement, registering it as a recurring/subscription payment method is not recommended, and while refunds should default to a cancellation to the original card, an alternative refund route should be defined in case the card expires.

• Bank of Finland (Suomen Pankki) / Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA, Finanssivalvonta)Official information on Finland's payment system and related regulations. If actual regulations differ from the content of this page, the official source takes precedence.