“As in the United States, Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. dominate card payments in Europe, but now the two U.S.-based card brands are growing on that continent partly at the expense of smaller brands they own. European issuers are systematically switching Visa Electron and Mastercard Maestro cards to simply Visa and Mastercard, respectively, according to research released Friday by United Kingdom-based Retail Banking Research Ltd. The number of Maestro cards in Europe fell by 2% last year, while Electron cards dropped by 10%, according to RBR’s research. Both are debit card brands. But the number of Mastercard plastics increased 9%, while Visa cards grew 6%.”