Is Maestro still used in Austria?
No. Austrian banks stopped issuing Maestro cards on 1 July 2023 and replaced the Bankomat-Karte with Debit Mastercard, or Visa Debit at some issuers. Old Maestro cards worked until their expiry date, so by 2026 almost every Austrian debit card is a Debit Mastercard or Visa Debit that also works online.
In detail
No. Austrian banks stopped issuing Maestro cards on 1 July 2023 and replaced the Bankomat-Karte with Debit Mastercard, or Visa Debit at some issuers. Old Maestro cards worked until their expiry date, so by 2026 almost every Austrian debit card is a Debit Mastercard or Visa Debit that also works online.
How people pay in Austria in 2026
Online, Austrians split between cards, PayPal and invoice. The OeNB puts cards at 35% and wallets or internet payment methods at 30% of online payments, while bank transfers carry 62% of online value. eps-Überweisung, the banks' own pay-by-bank button, processed 35 million payments in 2025, SEPA Instant became mandatory for every bank in October 2025, and in June 2026 Erste and Raiffeisen joined the European Payments Initiative to bring Wero to Austria.
Payment by card in Austria
The Austrian card is the Bankomat-Karte, the debit card every bank issues on the shared infrastructure of PSA Payment Services Austria. For two decades it ran on Maestro; since 1 July 2023 banks have stopped issuing Maestro and replaced it with Debit Mastercard, and a few issuers with Visa Debit, so the same card now works online and abroad.
More detail in our #PayWorldTour guide Payment methods in Austria.