MasterCard Snags Debit Deal with SunTrust
SunTrust Banks said Thursday it will convert its debit card program from Visa to MasterCard late this year. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
In addition to the new MasterCard debit cards, SunTrust will expand its current commercial card offering to include MasterCard branded commercial credit cards. SunTrust will continue to offer Visa branded cards as an option for some consumer and commercial credit products.
MasterCard is playing catch up in the debit card industry, even as market leader Visa makes greater headway. Visa has gained market share this year at MasterCard’s expense from bank consolidation and several credit card issuers restructuring their credit card portfolios by either closing accounts or attempting to sell the portfolios as a result of the financial crisis.
For instance, it’s been estimated that MasterCard is losing as much as 10% of its U.S. debit volume as JPMorgan Chase migrates the Washington Mutual card portfolio over to Visa. JPMorgan uses both Visa and MasterCard payment platforms.
