MasterCard is to roll out a new European payment system for cross-border card-to-card funds transfers via the Web and mobile channels.
The new service, dubbed MoneySend, is being released to help banks comply with new EU regulations governing the costs of transferring low-value retail payments across borders. CartaSi of Italy, Germany's Euro Kartensysteme and the Royal Bank of Scotland will be conducting trials of the technology over the coming months.
The system was developed using the Managed Payments Platform from UK e-commerce company Magex, a Royal Bank of Scotland spin-off which also provided the platform for NatWest's P2P service FastPay. Users registered with MoneySend can send an e-mail notification and/or an SMS/text message to recipients alerting them to the transfer. Recipients log on to MoneySend, specify their Maestro or Mastercard details and withdraw the money from an ATM using the specified card account.
Brian Morris, head of e-business, Europe, MasterCard International says the inclusion of Maestro - MasterCard's global, 100% online POS debit network - is an important element in the MoneySend offering.
"With 226 million Maestro cardholders in Europe alone and a further 240 million across the world, MoneySend could quite literally open the door to the world's most comprehensive and accessible network for money transfers between individuals," says Morris.
The MoneySend programme will go head to head with VisaDirect, a similar P2P system developed by rival card scheme Visa in association with Brussels-based e-payments company Clear2Pay.