VISA vs Mastercard

[CS800]

IS there any advantage of hiving a VISA over a MC? Apart from the convenience of having both just in case a merchant doesnt take one or the other?

[DeadSpider]

Sams club doesn't take Visa but do take MC and VISA more accepted outside US.

[alboto]

well I guess it's good to have both, but I've never been in a place where they only accept one and not the other.

[Revelate]

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@CS800 wrote:

IS there any advantage of hiving a VISA over a MC? Apart from the convenience of having both just in case a merchant doesnt take one or the other?

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Not really, both transaction networks are ubiquitous in the States, either is fine to my knowledge.  Might be some difference in Visa Sig vs World MC but I've never looked into that.

[alboto]

"Sams club doesn't take Visa but do take MC and VISA more accepted outside US."

Sams club dont accept credit visa, but they accept debit visa and I thought that was kind of weird though.

[trumpet-205]

Advantage of Visa

* Visa offers more practical discount on its website when using Visa card.

* If you have Visa Signature, it has superior purchase protection/extended warranty than Wold MC/World Elite MC.

Advantage of MC

* It is more widely accepted on international level (some countries like Canada tends to accept MC over Visa).

If you travel abroad, Visa and MC calculate their exchange rate differently.

[Jlu]

alboto, MC has more acceptability overseas than Visa, not the other way around.

[jamesdwi]

Visa is slightly more prestigous than MC. 

When you move into higher end cards  Visa Signature seem to be more recognised as oposed to "World" mastercard. Also Visa Signature benefits seem to be slightly better than what  World MC offers. 

My recomendation is to have both, especially if you can get both with no AF. 

[Razeus]

MC doesn't get much love here in the U.S.  The issuing banks seems to push Visa.  I've never had an MC in my life, always Visa.  It wasn't even an option when I signed up for my Freedom card.

[jamesdwi]

Untill I got my Chase VISA, I never had one....  I had 4 MC's (2x CapOne, HSBC Sears, BestBuy rewardzone) no visa, in fact the reason I AP'd for the Freedom card is because it was a VISA.