News

MasterCard, Pulse agree to common debit EMV solution

May 15, 2014

MasterCard and Pulse, a Discover Financial Services company, have reached an agreement that will allow EMV debit card issuers who participate in both brands’ networks to use the MasterCard common debit solution with those cards.

U.S. debit regulations require that each debit card provide merchants and acquirers the opportunity to route transactions over multiple, unaffiliated networks. This is made possible for debit EMV cards through the use of common application identifiers.

Pulse will use MasterCard's common AID to process domestic ATM and POS transactions on behalf of issuers who participate in both Pulse and MasterCard, including those initiated with contactless-enabled devices.

"This is another important step in moving the industry to EMV adoption," said Carolyn Balfany, group head of U.S. product delivery at MasterCard. "Working together with Pulse, we are providing secure payment solutions for debit programs."

"With this agreement, Pulse can now provide card issuers access to full EMV capabilities, regardless of debit card brand," said Judith McGuire, EVP of product management at Pulse. "In addition, merchants and acquirers on the Pulse network can develop their systems to support all debit routing options available through Pulse, including PIN, signature and PINless transactions."