Laser (debit card)
Encyclopedia
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Debit card
A debit card is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account/s at a financial institution...
scheme in Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. The Laser Scheme is maintained and operated by Laser Card Services Ltd., a not-for-profit body owned by four leading financial institutions in Ireland and overseen since 2008 by the Oversight Unit of the Central Bank. The scheme was launched in 1996 and in 2010 there were almost 3 million Laser Cards in circulation. 195 million transactions worth almost €11.2 billion were carried out on those cards in 2009. From 2007, the financial institutions which had issued Laser Cards began to replace them with Visa or Mastercard Debit Cards.
Use
Laser is primarily an electronic point of salePoint of sale
Point of sale or checkout is the location where a transaction occurs...
debit card, but can also be used by telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
and internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, at ATMs and to pay regular bills by direct debit.
When purchasing goods or services with a Laser Card up to €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
100 Cashback can be given to cardholders and this value is simply added to the purchase price. Some retailers set a lower maximum Cashback value, depending on what cash is available to them in the till or on their own policy. Many Irish businesses that operate online accept Laser Cards (see below).
All Laser cards issued from 1 January 2008 were ‘co-branded’ with an
international payment card scheme (i.e., MasterCard, under the ‘Maestro’ brand). While it is possible for any bank in the Single Euro Payments Area, regardless of location, to join the Laser Card scheme, there does not appear to be any interest in joining from banks outside Ireland.
Participating Financial Institutions
(Halifax was never a member of Laser Card Services Limited)In 2007, Halifax (Ireland) announced that it was the first bank in the Republic of Ireland to offer a Visa Debit card rather than the Laser debit card. In 2008, Ulster Bank
Ulster Bank
Ulster Bank is a large commercial bank, one of the Big Four in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Ulster Bank Group is subdivided into two separate legal entities, Ulster Bank Limited and Ulster Bank Ireland Limited...
dropped the Laser Card in favour of the Visa Debit
Visa Debit
Visa Debit is a major debit card issued by Visa in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and other nations of the European Union. Prior to October 2004, the debit card was known as Visa Delta. Since June 2009, the major banks in the UK have begun issuing Visa Debit. Barclays, Bank of...
card. Permanent TSB withdrew Laser Cards and began to replace them with Visa Debit cards in September 2010.
In late October 2010, Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland
The Bank of Ireland is a commercial bank operation in Ireland, which is one of the 'Big Four' in both parts of the island.Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history...
announced they were ceasing their involvement in the partnership in 2011.
On 9 February 2011, EBS Building Society
EBS Building Society
EBS Limited was a financial institution in Ireland and was the country's largest building society. EBS has more than 400,000 members and distributes its products through a branch and franchised agency network. It handles direct business by telephone and the Internet...
said that it would issue MasterCard debit cards instead of Laser from the second half of 2011.
In July 2011, AIB announced that it will cease issuing Laser Cards from 2011, leaving National Irish Bank
National Irish Bank
National Irish Bank is a commercial bank in Ireland, one of the traditional Big Four. In December 2004 Danske Bank agreed to purchase National Irish Bank from the National Australia Bank for GB£967m ....
as the final issuer in the Laser Card system, leading to speculation that the scheme will close in 2012.
It was reported that Banks were turning away from Laser because of some difficulties encountered by consumers in making online purchases. However, customers began to complain almost immediately about numerous difficulties caused by the premature withdrawal of Laser cards. Some retailers who were able to give cashback on Laser Cards were unwilling or unable to do so on the replacement cards; permanent tsb issued a second replacement Visa Debit Card to its customers in April 2011 due to the initial replacement chip and some older terminals not being compatible (i.e. refusing Cashback). Other retailers who had been charged a small flat-rate per-transaction fee for Laser transactions found that they were charged a percentage of the value of the transaction for the replacement cards. Organisations such as Betfair
Betfair
Betfair is the world's largest Internet betting exchange. The company is based in Hammersmith in West London, England. Since Betfair was launched in June 2000 it has become the largest online betting company in the UK and the largest betting exchange in the world. Betfair claim to have over 3...
which did not charge customers for Laser Card deposits began to charge these customers 1.5% commission on deposits using the replacement Visa Debit Cards. Merchant Services companies do not advertise whether there are any differences in their charges for the two types of debit card. Some customers reported being charged foreign usage fees on Visa debit cards in Northern Ireland, which had not been charged on the old cards.
Online stores that accept Laser
Examples of some of the online stores that accept Laser are outlined below.- Aer LingusAer LingusAer Lingus Group Plc is the flag carrier of Ireland. It operates a fleet of Airbus aircraft serving Europe and North America. It is Ireland's oldest extant airline, and its second largest after low-cost rival Ryanair...
- Ann SummersAnn SummersAnn Summers is a United Kingdom-based retailer specialising in sex toys and lingerie, with over 140 high street stores in the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and Spain. In 2000, Ann Summers acquired the Knickerbox brand, a label with an emphasis on more comfortable and feminine underwear, while...
- Apple StoreApple Store (online)The Apple Store is the online store of Apple Inc.. All of Apple's product lines are carried as well as select brands of accessories for its products. It is owned and operated by Apple in Cupertino, California...
- ASOS.comASOS.comASOS.com is the UK's largest online-only fashion and beauty store. Primarily aimed at 16-34 year old men and women, it offers over 35,000 own-label and branded fashion goods. Sales for the financial year ending 31 March 2011 were £339.7 million....
- Battleground Europe
- BillPay
- Books Unlimited
- Booze
- CD WOW!CD WOW!CD WOW! is an online retailer, offering Games, CD, DVD, Books and Cosmetics. Similar to Amazon.com, it offers websites in and ships from multiple countries including: UK, USA, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Japan and Germany. Started...
- Easons
- EircomEircomEircom Group LTD is a telecommunications company in the Republic of Ireland, and a former state-owned incumbent. It is currently the largest telecommunications operator in the Republic of Ireland and operates primarily on the island of Ireland, with a point of presence in Great Britain.As Bord...
- Electricshopping.ie
- GadgetIreland.com
- Gameclick
- HeatonsHeatonsHeatons is an Irish department store. The store specialises in mens, womens and childrens clothing and homewares. They have 53 stores around Ireland, North and South. The store was established more than 60 years ago...
- Irish Rail
- Just-EatJust-eatJust-Eat is a UK headquartered service for ordering takeaway food online. UK, Denmark, Canada, Ireland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Spain, India and Switzerland. As of 4 September 2011, Just-Eat has 15 867 restaurants across its worldwide network, with 8842 in the UK...
- Lensway
- ParkSmart.ie
- PhotoBoxPhotoBoxPhotoBox is an internet-based digital photo printing company founded in 2000 by Graham Hobson.PhotoBox is part of the 'Photoways Group', which consists of PhotoBox, and its French counterpart, Photoways, leading to their claim that they are Europe's largest online photo processing service...
- PixmaniaPixmaniaPixmania is a European E-tailer of digital photography and consumer electronic goods. It trades in twenty-six countries through bespoke transactional websites...
- Recordstore
- RyanairRyanairRyanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
- FragranceLagoon
- SchuhSchuhSchuh is a Scottish high street and internet branded footwear retailer, operating throughout the British Isles.-History:Schuh was established by Founding Director Sandy Alexander in 1981, with a single shop in North Bridge Arcade, Edinburgh. The company became part of the Glasgow-based Goldbergs...
- Spectra Photo
- SpreadshirtSpreadshirtSpreadshirt is a German company offering an online platform for private individuals and commercial organizations to design, buy and sell creative and personalized apparel.-History:...
- TicketmasterTicketmasterTicketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is an independent American ticket sales and distribution company based in West Hollywood, California, USA, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010 it merged with Live Nation to become Live Nation Entertainment...
- VodafoneVodafoneVodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
- MegauploadMegauploadMegaupload is an online Hong Kong-based company established in 2005 for the use of uploading and downloading files. It includes a video browsing section in the site Megavideo, MegaLive, MegaPix and Megabox as well as a sister company called Megaporn which hosts user uploaded pornographic content...
- MinecraftMinecraftMinecraft is a sandbox-building independent video game written in Java originally by Swedish creator Markus "Notch" Persson and now by his company, Mojang, formed from the proceeds of the game. It was released as an alpha on May 17, 2009, with a beta version on December 20, 2010...
Online Laser Card Integration - Website and E-commerce system gateways
Ogone, Netbanx.com, Moneybookers.com, CreditCall, DataCash, Realex, TNS and SagePay are providers of Laser payment gateways.Co-branding
From 2005, some Laser Card holders were provided with co-branded Laser/MaestroMaestro (debit card)
Maestro is a multi-national debit card service owned by MasterCard, and was founded in 1990. Maestro cards are obtained from associate banks and can be linked to the card holder's current account, or they can be prepaid cards...
cards; from 1 January 2008, all Laser cards were co-branded. The co-branded cards are Chip and PIN
Chip and PIN
Chip and PIN is the brandname adopted by the banking industries in the United Kingdom and Ireland for the rollout of the EMV smartcard payment system for credit, debit and ATM cards.- History :...
cards with both Laser and Maestro functions. The Laser facility is for use in the Republic of Ireland only whereas the Maestro facility is, in theory, used both domestically and internationally, but international Maestro payments are quite often rejected.