There's a key fact to confirm first. Mastercard discontinued new issuance of Maestro cards in Europe from July 2023, and existing cards are being migrated to Debit Mastercard in stages. Romania is a market where card adoption is expanding around debit cards and where the shift from cash-on-delivery to card payments is underway, so previously issued Maestro cards are still in circulation, but their share is set to shrink as the migration progresses.

There is therefore no reason to newly design Maestro as a primary method. For merchants already accepting card payments, a realistic approach is to include it within their acceptance scope simply as a complementary method to prevent payment failures for existing Maestro holders, while building any new strategy around general cards such as Debit Mastercard and wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

When a consumer pays with Maestro debit card details, the amount is deducted immediately from their bank account balance after 3DS2-based Strong Customer Authentication (SCA). Since this is based on account balance rather than a credit limit, operators should keep in mind that the reasons for declined authorizations differ from credit cards. The deducted RON amount is collected and converted by Hecto Financial before being paid to the merchant in the contracted currency.

Maestro acceptance is generally structured as part of a card acceptance contract rather than as a separate agreement. Korean corporations can consider it through Hecto Financial integration without a local contract in Romania, and actual conditions vary depending on industry and transaction volume.

• Business registration country

  Confirm whether a contract is possible on the basis of a Korea-registered business

• Sales channels

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

• Product categories

  Advance confirmation is needed as to whether your category falls under the merchant policy restrictions of the Maestro operator

• EU regulatory compliance

  Confirmation is needed on compliance with EU payment regulations such as PSD2 and SEPA (see official sources below)

Maestro transactions settle through the same path as other cards. Hecto Financial collects the RON deducted from the consumer's account and, after conversion, pays it out in the currency set under contract—USD, KRW, or JPY. Given the debit nature of the method, refunds also return to the original account, and since EU distance-selling rules allow consumers to withdraw within 14 days, refund processing deadlines should not be set any tighter than that.

• National Bank of Romania, Banca Națională a României (BNR)Official information on Romania's payment systems and related regulations. If this page's content differs from actual regulations, the official source takes precedence.