MasterCard Rules (PDF)

Europe Region Rules
Section 12a—Europe Region Debit-related Rules
Section 12a—Europe Region Debit-related Rules
Organization of this Section
The Rules in this Section 12a are variances and additions to the “global” Rules
that apply to:
1. Debit MasterCard Cards issued in a Debit MasterCard Country and presented
for payment in the Europe Region;
2. Debit MasterCard Transactions that take place in the Europe Region; and
3. Merchants and Acquirers of those Transactions.
The rules set forth in Intracountry Debit MasterCard Rules for the United
Kingdom also apply to Transactions effected with a Debit MasterCard Card that
take place wholly within the United Kingdom.
Customers and Merchants must continue to comply with the global Rules
with respect to Cards issued by Customers outside of the Europe Region and
presented for payment at Merchant locations in the Europe Region, unless
otherwise agreed by the Corporation.
Definitions
The defined terms provided in Section 12a apply to Rules in this Section 12a.
Solely for the purposes of Rules in this Section 12a, the following terms have
the meanings set forth below.
1. “Debit MasterCard Card” if issued in the EEA, means a Debit Card or a >>
Commercial Card as defined in the Definitions section of Chapter 12.
The following rule applies in all Europe Region countries:
Cards offering credit facilities for which the Cardholder has to enter into a
written credit agreement with the Card issuing institution that would qualify
as consumer credit under the applicable legislation governing consumer
credit are explicitly excluded. Overdraft facilities linked to an Account are
excluded from the above definition of credit facilities.
2. “Other Card” shall mean any MasterCard-branded device, program, or card
that does not qualify as a “Debit MasterCard Card.”
3. “Debit MasterCard Country” shall mean a country designated by the
Corporation, in its sole discretion, as a participant in the Intracountry Debit
MasterCard Program. Only a country so designated is a Debit MasterCard
Country.
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12-30 12 December 2012 • MasterCard Rules