Regina Leader Post
December 1995

Article by Bruce Johnstone
L-P Financial Editor

Picture By Bryan Schlosser
Leader Post

Regina Company Unveils Worldwide Debit Card
First test this week

A Regina company played an important supporting role in the Canadian debut of a new global debit card network in Edmonton earlier this week.

The Maestro Debit Network - MasterCard's international debit card system - is being launched in Canada by an Alberta credit union, with help from CU Electronic Transaction Services (CUETS) of Regina.

CUETS provided the technical expertise to enable the credit union - Capital City Savings and Credit Union of Edmonton - to become the first financial institution in Canada to use the system.

One of Capital City's clients - an Edmonton gift shop - was hooked up by CUETS to handle the first international debit card transaction in Canada.

A card from a U.S. credit union was used to make a purchase from the store, with funds transferred from the customer's account in New York to the merchant's account in Edmonton.

All told, the transaction - which involved different electronic switches in five cities in two countries - took 13 seconds.

"It looks so simple, but there's a lot of technology behind the scenes," said Jim Hackett, senior vice-president of CUETS.

Hackett said the Maestro debit card functions like a normal debit card; the difference is the global network behind it. Like conventional debit cards, the Maestro card electronically transfers funds through a point-of-sale (POS) terminal.

Where Maestro differs from, say, Interac, the Canadian debit card network, is the interconnection with debit card systems in other countries.

"It (Maestro) is available in 72 countries worldwide." Hackett said.

"Our cardholders will be able to use their ATM (automated teller machine) cards to make purchases in Canada and 71 other countries."

But Canadian cardholders won't be able to use them right away.

The Alberta project is a test pilot for all Canadian credit unions.

By mid to late 1996, CUETS hopes to have all of the credit unions' 2,200 MasterCard merchants with POS terminals hooked up to the system.

The job will keep 10 CUETS employees busy throughout most of 1996.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Many of the 20,000 or so credit union merchants across Canada will likely want to convert to the new system.

And other financial institutions will undoubtedly be bringing many of the 30,000 MasterCard debit card terminals in Canada onto the Maestro network.

The target market for the Maestro card is primarily business and recreational travellers. Target locations are primarily tourist facilities in large cities, such as hotels.

CUETS which was formed in 1981 as a joint venture of the Alberta and Saskatchewan credit unions, has 145 employees.