Eurocard (credit card)
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Eurocard was a
Its operations were relocated to Belgium in the end of the 1960s, and the card became the dominant brand in North and Central Europe between 1970 and 2002. It was eventually replaced by the Mastercard brand in most locations, but its logo is still used in some countries.
History
In 1965, Eurocard International N.V. was established, based in
This allowed the ICA to get an instant European acceptance network, and Eurocard to get accepted worldwide. Eurocard International got the sole license to issue the ICA's Master Charge (later MasterCard) cards in Europe.
In 1992, Eurocard International N.V., Eurocheque International C.V. and Eurocheque International Holding N.V. merged into a single company, Europay International S.A., and were relocated to Waterloo, Belgium. This location also housed the Europe, Middle East and Africa region of MasterCard International, and the seat of the joint venture of Eurocard MasterCard, Maestro International.
In 2002, Europay International and MasterCard International merged. The name Europay disappeared, and the new organisation was later renamed
It lagged behind Visa in southern European countries, such as Spain and France.[2]
Acceptance mark
Today, the Eurocard name exists in combination with the MasterCard
However, the use of Eurocard as a brand for MasterCard credit cards is limited to Scandinavian countries and the Baltic countries. In other former Eurocard markets, such as the German speaking countries, this brand was fully replaced by the MasterCard brand.