ING switches its Visa cards to Mastercard

ING retires Visa and hands out Mastercard with contactless payment

What happens if the bank you've been paying with for years decides, without asking you, that your next card will no longer be Visa? That's what, according to one customer's account, ING DIRECT Spain told a customer over the phone when he called about another matter and took the chance to ask whether they planned to add contactless payment. The answer was twofold: yes to contactless, and yes to a change of card issuer. The bank has started gradually replacing its Visa card stock with Mastercard, under the same contractual terms, and is adding RFID so you can pay by tapping the card on the terminal. The news spread through the forum before any official announcement.

Which cards are changing, and with which numbering

The change is neither uniform nor immediate. According to the details shared along the way, the business debit Mastercard starts with 5584, the payroll debit card with 5351 and the payroll credit card with 5160. The different numbering points to products packaged differently depending on account type, though the bank gave no details. Some customers received the new card in July, others in August, and some are still receiving Visa debit cards with the same remote payment antiestéticature. The replacement is pogre through expirations and renewals, not through a single cutoff.

The notice that never came in writing

What bothered people most was not the brand change, but how it was communicated. Several customers found out when the card arrived at their home, along with a message on the website warning that the old cards would be blocked once the new ones were used. "The only thing that annoys me is that they didn't notify me in writing," sums up one of the comments. The bank reportedly said by phone that the plan was to start in September with new customers and renewals, but without confirming to each user which card they would get. A customer whose Visa was due to expire in 2017 received an email announcing the replacement Mastercard.

Timelines: when the Visa stops working

Here is the piece of information that generates the most queries. According to what the bank told one customer, the Visa would stop working about three months after the new card is received. Another experience points in the same direction: upon activating the Mastercard, the previous Visa — which expired at the end of September — was cancelled. There is no firm public schedule. Some have decided to keep the Mastercard in a drawer and keep using the Visa until its natural expiry, a strategy that works as long as the block is not activated.

Contactless: convenience versus suspicion

RFID, or contactless payment, lets you wave the card over the terminal without inserting it and, for amounts under 20 euros, without typing in the PIN. The reaction on the forum was one of distrust: people asked whether it can be disabled without drilling a hole in the card, and the move was called a security blunder. The underlying concern is that the data could be read remotely. It's the same debate that accompanied the rollout of contactless across the rest of the banking sector, with no mass fraud through this channel documented so far.

Visa or Mastercard: acceptance and fees

The discussion drifted towards the real-world acceptance of each network. Some claim that in certain countries and online shops only Visa is accepted, while others remember the opposite. Everyday evidence shows that most establishments accept either one. The most frequently cited case was Ryanair, where people wondered whether the Mastercard would carry an extra fee. A later check showed that the airline charges 2% regardless of the card. The worry about losing Visa as an alternative mixes with the convenience of having both networks in your wallet.

Alternatives for those who don't want to switch

For customers who would rather keep a Visa, the options lie with other banks. Selfbank was mentioned as an alternative, as was the free, fee-free IKEA Visa credit card. It was also noted that ING charges for its cards if balance or income conditions are not met, a model other banks don't apply. The practical conclusion: anyone who wants to keep a Visa will have to look elsewhere, because, according to what one customer was told, ING will no longer issue them.

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The bank has not publicly confirmed when the process will end or whether renewed Visa cards will be kept until their expiry. Customers who still have an active one can keep using it. Until it stops working. And then, the Mastercard from the drawer.