Bookmakers Maestro

Maestro is Mastercard’s debit card, and in Europe it is being replaced by Debit Mastercard. Here is what still works, what it costs, how you get paid and which bookmakers take it: 16 of the 65 reviewed on Betandlink.

TypeCard
DepositInstant
WithdrawalRarely
Fees0%

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Maestro is being replaced by Debit Mastercard

Mastercard announced on 19 October 2021 that no new Maestro cards would be issued in Europe after 1 July 2023. From that date banks replace expired or lost Maestro cards with a Debit Mastercard, and a Maestro card keeps working until its expiry date.

For a bettor the change is good news: the Debit Mastercard is accepted wherever Mastercard is accepted online, which a Maestro card is not.

What is Maestro?

Maestro is the debit brand of Mastercard. The card is tied to a current account and every payment leaves the account at once: there is no credit, no interest and no monthly statement to settle. In shops and at cash machines you confirm with the PIN; online, where the merchant accepts the brand, the bank confirms the payment through Mastercard Identity Check. Mastercard runs the network, your bank issues the card and sets its fees.

Mastercard launched Maestro in 1991 as the first debit network to authorise point-of-sale payments online, and it became the one debit brand accepted almost everywhere in Europe, with more than 400 million cards in circulation worldwide in 2021. That year Mastercard announced its retirement: no new Maestro cards in Europe after 1 July 2023, and expired or lost cards replaced by a Debit Mastercard. The cardholder does nothing; the bank sends the new card when the old one expires.

The reason Mastercard gave is the one bettors know from the cashier. Maestro was built for physical shops, its card number can run to 19 digits, and in Mastercard’s words the cards “cannot consistently be used for e-commerce payments”. A bookmaker that lists Maestro takes it for deposits; payouts to a Maestro card are rarely possible, so winnings come back by bank transfer. 16 of the 65 bookmakers reviewed on Betandlink list it.

How to get and use a Maestro card

Get the card from your bank. A Maestro card comes with a current account; there is no Maestro credit card. In Europe no bank has issued a new one since 1 July 2023, so a new account comes with a Debit Mastercard instead, and an existing Maestro card is replaced when it expires or is lost.
Check that it works online. Mastercard says Maestro cards were designed for physical retail and cannot consistently be used for e-commerce. Ask the bank whether yours is enabled for online payments and for Mastercard Identity Check; Mastercard notes that in many cases the activation has already been done automatically.
Add it to the cashier. Choose Maestro, or the card option that shows the Maestro mark, and type the card number, the expiry date and whatever else the cashier asks for. A card number of up to 19 digits is normal on Maestro; if the form refuses it, that cashier does not take the brand online.
Confirm with Mastercard Identity Check. The bank checks that it is you, with a one-time code sent by text, a confirmation in its app or your fingerprint or face. The check runs in the bank’s system and the bookmaker never sees it. The deposit is on the betting account at once.
Prepare the withdrawal. Most bookmakers cannot credit a Maestro card, so verify your betting account early and register the bank account behind the card for withdrawals by bank transfer. If the cashier does offer a refund to the card, it goes to the Maestro card you deposited with.

What it costs

Three parties can charge you on a card deposit: the bookmaker, Mastercard and the bank that issued the card. The first two normally charge nothing. Mastercard bills banks and merchants, not cardholders: the fee it publishes, interchange, is paid by the merchant’s bank to the card issuer on every purchase. The bank sets the account fee and the currency charges, and Mastercard publishes no figures for them.

What a Maestro deposit costs

Operation	Fee
Bookmaker fee on a Maestro deposit	0% at most bookmakers; the cashier shows any fee before you confirm
Mastercard’s charge to the cardholder	None: interchange is paid by the merchant’s bank to your bank, and Mastercard’s US rules forbid merchants to surcharge debit cards
Card and account fee	Set by the bank; not published by Mastercard
Deposit in the card’s currency	Usually free: a debit card has no cash-advance fee and no interest, the money leaves the account at once
Gambling billed as a cash-like transaction	Some banks may charge a fee on gambling payments; Mastercard gives no figure, check the card’s tariff
Deposit in another currency: Mastercard’s rate	The rate of the date and time your bank authorises the payment, shown by the Mastercard currency converter
Deposit in another currency: bank’s fee	The bank “may impose additional fees” on top of the rate; amount not published by Mastercard
Conversion offered by the cashier	If you accept to pay in your own currency, Mastercard’s rate does not apply and the merchant’s conversion “comes at a cost”
Withdrawal	Rarely to the card; by bank transfer, usually free on the bookmaker’s side, the bank may charge for an incoming foreign transfer
Disputing a deposit	Free, through the bank that issued the card
Replacement by a Debit Mastercard	Free; the bank sends it when the Maestro card expires or is lost

Read on 19 October 2026 on the FAQ and currency converter pages of mastercard.com and in Mastercard’s announcement of 19 October 2021 on the retirement of Maestro. Mastercard publishes none of the fees a bank charges on a Maestro card: the account fee, the mark-up on another currency and the cost of an incoming transfer are in your bank’s tariff.

Pay in the card’s currency and decline the cashier’s conversion

Deposit in the currency of the account behind the card, and when the cashier offers to charge you in your own currency, refuse: Mastercard’s advice is to let your bank do the conversion, because the merchant’s rate costs more. In Europe, ask the bank for the Debit Mastercard now rather than at expiry: it is accepted wherever Mastercard is accepted online, and bookmakers that credit Mastercard cards can return your winnings to it.

Deposit and withdrawal times

Deposits are instant. The bank authorises the payment the moment you pass Mastercard Identity Check, the money is on the betting account at once, and it leaves your current account at the same time, because a debit card spends what is there. The minimum and maximum amounts are those the bookmaker sets for cards.

Withdrawals are the weak point. Mastercard’s payout service, Mastercard Move, sends money to cards and bank accounts in more than 200 countries and territories, says that funds are available “near real-time”, and lists betting and gaming payouts among its uses, but delivery is “subject to market availability” and Mastercard publishes no list of the card brands that can receive. In practice most bookmakers cannot credit a Maestro card and pay by bank transfer to the account behind it: count the bookmaker’s approval time, from minutes to a few days, plus the time the banks take to post the transfer. Where a bookmaker can refund the card, add the days your bank takes to show the credit.

Where you can use it

Maestro was issued above all in Europe, where Mastercard calls it the only pan-European debit brand, and the retirement announced in 2021 concerns Europe. Mastercard’s network reaches more than 200 countries and territories, and its cash-machine locator still covers the Mastercard, Maestro and Cirrus brands. Whether a bookmaker takes the card online depends on its cashier, not on your country: a Maestro card works in a cashier only where the bookmaker’s payment provider accepts the brand for online payments.

Europe. No new Maestro cards since 1 July 2023. Your card works until its expiry date; the bank then sends a Debit Mastercard, which the cashier treats as a Mastercard. Mastercard published the announcement in local editions for Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and Romania.
United Kingdom. Credit cards have been banned for gambling since 14 April 2020, and the ban covers money loaded into a wallet with a credit card. Maestro is a debit card, so the ban does not touch it.
Australia. Since 11 June 2024 wagering sites may not take credit cards, “funds linked to a credit card (including digital wallets)” or digital currency. The regulator’s page does not mention debit cards, so a Maestro card stays usable where a bookmaker offers it.
Outside Europe. Maestro continues as a debit and cash-machine brand, but the e-commerce limit is the same everywhere: if the cashier does not show the Maestro mark, use another card or a method covered on this site.

If the cashier refuses the card number, nothing is wrong with your account: the bookmaker has not enabled Maestro for online payments. A Debit Mastercard from the same bank goes through.

Maestro and welcome bonuses

Check the bonus terms first

Card deposits normally qualify for welcome offers: the methods bookmakers exclude are usually e-wallets such as Skrill and Neteller, and a Maestro deposit counts as a card deposit. Because Maestro is a debit card, it also earns the bonus in the United Kingdom and Australia, where a credit card gives nothing because the deposit itself is refused. Two things to read before you deposit: the minimum first deposit, and whether the terms say the bonus is paid only on the method you use for the first deposit, because if the cashier later refuses your Maestro card you will need another method anyway.

Bookmakers accepting Maestro

Taken from the payment sections of the Betandlink reviews. The Visit button opens the bookmaker’s site; the bonus terms are explained in its Betandlink review.

Questions and answers

Can I still use my Maestro card at bookmakers?

Yes, until the card expires. Mastercard stopped the issue of new Maestro cards in Europe on 1 July 2023, but a card already in your wallet keeps working, and the bank replaces it with a Debit Mastercard when it expires or is lost. The deposit goes through only at bookmakers whose cashier accepts Maestro online.

Is Maestro free to use with bookmakers?

Mastercard charges you nothing and most bookmakers add no fee on card deposits. A deposit in the card’s currency normally costs nothing, because a debit card has no cash-advance fee and no interest. A deposit in another currency is converted at Mastercard’s rate of the moment plus whatever your bank adds, and Mastercard publishes no figure for that.

Can I withdraw my winnings to a Maestro card?

Rarely. Mastercard’s payout service can credit cards in more than 200 countries, but it does not say which brands, and most bookmakers cannot send money to a Maestro card. They pay by bank transfer to the account behind the card, so register that account in the cashier and count the bookmaker’s approval time plus the banks’ posting time.

Why does a cashier refuse my Maestro card online?

Because Mastercard built Maestro for physical shops: its own announcement says the cards cannot consistently be used for e-commerce payments and that their numbers of up to 19 digits do not fit the common online payment forms. Nothing is wrong with your account. A Debit Mastercard from the same bank is accepted wherever Mastercard is accepted online.

Is a Maestro card allowed in the United Kingdom and Australia?

Yes. The bans of 14 April 2020 in the United Kingdom and 11 June 2024 in Australia cover credit cards and wallets funded by credit cards, not debit cards. A Maestro card draws on a current account, so a bookmaker licensed in those countries can take it, provided its cashier accepts the brand online.

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