PURCHASE, N.Y.-- MasterCard International has modified its membership rules to allow its members to form bilateral or multilateral surcharge-free ATM alliances.
According to a news release, Cirrus card issuers and Cirrus ATM acquirer financial institutions will be permitted to form agreements allowing cash withdrawals through the Cirrus/MasterCard ATM network in the United States, without imposing an access fee.
MasterCard spokesperson Gregory Papajohn said the rule was changed because Cirrus participants expressed interest in surcharge-free alliances when MasterCard surveyed them about possible enhancements to Cirrus functionality earlier this year.
For members that already participate in regional surcharge-free alliances or similar programs, "This will provide opportunities for them to expand those programs exponentially," Papajohn said.
More than 350,000 ATMs are part of the Cirrus/MasterCard network in the U.S.
MasterCard also implemented a series of additional debit program enhancements, including: stand-In processing for PIN-based Maestro point-of-sale transactions, set to go into effect Oct. 1, 2003; the ability for acquirers to designate non-member entities such as merchants to connect directly to the MasterCard debit switch; and the same direct-connect ability for issuers with high transaction volumes.
MasterCard also introduced the ability for issuers and acquirers to specify Maestro and Cirrus as the network of choice for domestic transaction routing when multiple service marks are common to the card and the terminal. Acquirers who default route to Cirrus will no longer be required to route transactions to a competing network whose marks are common to the card and terminal, according to the release.
The rule changes are a sign that competition is heating up between MasterCard and rival Visa, as well as super-regional networks like Star. Analysts have speculated that Star will compete more directly with MasterCard and Visa if Star parent Concord EFS is purchased by First Data Corp., as planned.
(See related stories First Data refiles proposal to acquire Concord, First Data takes go-slow approach to Concord merger and First Data, Concord reach terms for acquisition)
