Many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) accept Visa and Mastercard, but regional debit networks offer a compelling alternative.

A regional debit network is a payment network that facilitates debit card transactions within a specific geographic area. Unlike global payment networks like Visa or Mastercard, regional networks like STAR, Accel, NYCE and Pulse operate within a limited geographic scope.

In 2008, Congress passed the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. A key piece of the legislation required banks to put a second network on debit cards, creating needed competition in the space. Having two networks on debit cards gave merchants a choice of which network to route the transaction over.

“You have the right to instruct your merchant processor or acquirer to send debit transactions to the regional network of your choice instead of Visa and Mastercard,” said Roger Applewhite, a subject matter expert from the Secure Remote Payment Council, during the NACS Introduction to Alternatives for Accepting Debit Cards webinar.

Regional debit networks have adopted a credit card processing model, making them a viable alternative to Visa and Mastercard and their processing fees. Anything that can be done with a Visa or Mastercard network can now be done on the regional debit network.

There are tremendous benefits for retailers who maximize their routing options and use the regional debit networks, such as a reduction of fees and transaction costs and enhanced features these networks provide.

The Secure Remote Payment Council is a nonprofit, inter-industry trade association that supports the growth, development and market adoption of debit-based internet eCommerce and mobile channel payment methods that meet or exceed the security standards for pinned-based card present payments.

For additional information, contact Maria Arminio at m.arminio@secureremotepaymentcouncil.org.

A recording of the Introduction to Alternatives for Accepting Debit Cards is available here.