I just received this response from Mastercard.
– All Mastercards but only Mastercards will be accepted
– No plans to increase the number of ATMs – where there are already long queues
– The terminals are not locked to Mastercard – that is done at the acquiring bank’s end. Apparently the acquiring bank blocks out the other cards, so it would be good to know who is responsible for this breaking of our EFTPOS system.
Hi Lance
Thanks for taking my call earlier re your piece “Why MasterCard’s Rugby World Cup decision is stupid”…
The first thing I would say is that where there is card acceptance today, it will continue through RWC. That means that if a merchandise retailer accepts all forms of cards as payment now, they will continue to accept all forms of cards as payment through the RWC. We are certainly not expecting these retailers to lessen the choice they are giving to their customers. In fact, we are trying to offer more choice.
To that end, what we are doing is investing in building a network of card acceptance locations at major New Zealand stadiums where today, the stadiums do not accept cards. The only payment option accepted at these locations today is cash. This is part of our long term commitment to Rugby World Cup 2011. We intend to leave a legacy that delivers convenience and security for New Zealand long after the tournament has come to an end. Throughout RWC these locations – that today only take cash – will accept all forms of MasterCard cards (including Credit, Debit and Prepaid cards). After RWC, they will accept all forms of cards.
So, to reinforce what I have just said, no acceptance location at the stadiums should accept fewer forms of payment than they do today. All we are doing is strengthening acceptance to allow retailers in the public areas of these stadiums to accept MasterCard cards… ALL MasterCard cards (not just Prepaid).
MasterCard recently announced that, alongside the existing option to use cash, our cardholders will now also be able to use their MasterCard cards at Eden Park and Westpac Stadiums. For those people without a MasterCard card, ANZ have announced the launch of the RWC 2011 MasterCard ANZ Prepaid card, which will carry MasterCard’s PayPass technology.
We are absolutely providing MORE choice. Not less.
Hope that helps explain the situation. Happy to discuss further.
Regards
djm
David Masters
Vice President
Strategy and Corporate Affairs
MasterCard Worldwide | Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa
Level 8, 100 Arthur Street | North Sydney NSW 2060
Australia
Lance Wiggs 
Having been at the Sevens where there were few ATMs with long queues, Westpac were charging something like $2 for the privilege of withdrawing cash from a counter.
This can only be good news from Mastercard to provide more options and as Target would say “Shame on you Westpac”.
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I went to the game at Eden Park last night. You could get cash out (but they charged you $2 to do so). I walked around the north and south stands, and there was EFTPOS available at every food stall. Most of then only had 2 or 3 terminals (so roughly half) but others had a terminal at each lane.
So my question is – will we still have EFTPOS during RWC at Eden Park, given that MasterCard have said that we won’t have any less than what we have today?
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