Diners Club International Acceptance by MasterCard Merchants

MasterCard International Incorporated has entered into an alliance with Diners Club North America and Diners Club International. This arrangement involves reissuing cards and will impact all merchants throughout 2004 and 2005 regardless of whether you currently accept Diners Club transactions.

Diners Club North America will be reissuing all cards issued within the United States and Canada with a 16-digit MasterCard account number beginning with “5”. The new card will bear the MasterCard brand on the front of the card and be co-branded as a Diners Club card. These cards will function as MasterCard cards at your merchant location. These corporate cards will be re-issued through June 2005. A sample of the re-issued card is provided below.

Diners Club cards issued outside the US and Canada will be treated as a MasterCard transaction starting on or after November 8, 2004 based on merchants authorization processor readiness. We anticipate a November 8, 2004 effective date for US merchants and a Spring 2005 date for Canadian merchants. These Diners International cards will be reissued starting in the 3rd Quarter of 2005 with the MasterCard logo on the back of the card. These cards will retain their existing 14-digit account number beginning with “36”. If you currently accept Diners, you will be funded for these International transactions with your other MasterCard transactions, however, your terminal equipment, receipts, and reports may still identify this card as a “Diners” transaction. Retrieval requests and chargebacks may also be handled in the same manner as MasterCard transactions effective on or after November 8, 2004. A sample of the reissued card is provided below.

FAQ's:

1. How does this impact me if I don’t currently accept Diners?
   US merchants are enabled to accept Diners International cards (account numbers beginning with 36) with the MasterCard brand effective March 13, 2005. Diners Club International cardholders transaction amounts are considerably higher than MasterCard transactions.
    
2. How can I verify that my POS system can accept a Diners International card with the MasterCard brand on back?
   Merchants can perform a “test” sale using test card 36018623456787 and expiration date 0706.
    
   
   If you receive a “DECLINE” or “PICKUP” authorization response, then no action is necessary – the card issuer received the authorization request and provided a valid authorization response for the test card. If you receive the message Invalid ACCT, there is no action necessary. If you receive any other response, you may require updated software. Please contact your POS vendor for updated software. If you use a terminal product from Global Payments, please contact us at 888-876-4093.
    
   HINT: If presented with a Diners International card not accepted by your terminal, you should verify that the MasterCard brand is on the back and obtain an approval using the IVR rather than your terminal. Please obtain a manual imprint of the card and enter the Diners International transaction once your software has been updated.
    
3. What are the penalties for non-acceptance?
   Penalties start at $1000 for the first merchant violation with significant increases for subsequent merchant violations as of November 30, 2005. Fines double effective April 1, 2006 and increase to $5000 per violation as of November 30, 2006.
    
4. Do I have to do anything with my terminal to accept these new Diners Club International/MasterCard co-branded cards?
   If you use Hypercom equipment, then you may first need to verify the memory in your terminal (i.e. 256 KB or 512 KB or 1024 KB). Restaurant merchants using terminals with 256 KB will need hardware with a minimum of 512 KB of memory for an upgrade using compliant software. Also, you may be contacted by Global or your acquirer if a terminal download is necessary (i.e. Hypercom applications). Many other terminal applications will accept Diners International cards effective March 13, 2005 for US merchants and later for Canadian merchants. Global has changed the receipt and report print programs to reflect these transactions as MasterCard and to make it easier for you to reconcile your transaction funding. if you use a terminal product from Global Payments, please contact us at 888-876-4093 to check on the availability of a new terminal download.
    
5. Do I have to do anything special to accept the new MasterCard with Diners brand on the front when they are reissued in 2004-2005?
   No, the reissued MasterCard with the Diners Club North America co-brand will not require any special procedures for merchant acceptance. They will be treated in the same manner as other MasterCard transactions.
    
6. We participate in a T&E frequent traveler program that allows cardholders to provide a credit card account on file. Do I have to do anything special?
   If you have a preferred traveler program, the cardholder must update their transaction information with their new card number within 30 to 60 days of receipt of their new card or you may experience an authorization decline.
    
7. How will the Diners Club International transactions be posted and priced on merchant statement?
   Effective on or after November 8, 2004, these will be treated in the same manner as MasterCard transactions. Merchants will be billed back for higher interchange costs on keyed and card not present transactions just as they are when a non-US MasterCard is used and the card is not swiped. The rate you pay on MasterCard transactions will apply to Diners Club International transactions cleared through MasterCard. The MasterCard rate may be lower or different than the Diners rate.
    
8. I’m paid by Diners today, how does this impact me?
   Diners may continue to pay you for Diners transactions, however, this will be phased out as the Diners North American cards expire or are reissued as a MasterCard. You will be paid by your MasterCard member bank for 36 (International) transactions effective March 13, 2005 for US merchants and later for Canadian merchants.
    
9. When will Diners disappear from my merchant statement?
   It is anticipated that 90% of Diners volume will be migrated to MasterCard volume over 2004-2005 and that the remaining 10% of Diners volume on International cards (accounts beginning with 36) will be cleared like a MasterCard effective March 13, 2005 for US merchants and later for Canadian merchants. We believe Diners will no longer appear on your merchant statements by 2005-4th quarter.
    
10. The above questions indicate that merchants will see a change in how Diners International transactions are posted, priced, and paid effective on or after November 8th, how do I know when my service establishment will be impacted?
    More specific information will be provided to Canadian and US merchants through other communication channels (i.e. statement messages) and this site will be updated as additional details are announced. The date for Canadian merchant’s to start processing International transactions as MasterCard cards is targeted for Spring 2005.