Visa vs. Mastercard: Though VISA and Mastercard look very alike and perform similarly as well, but still the cards have certain areas where it differs from one another. The major difference that separates Visa and Mastercard from each other is that these cards only work on the payment network that usually operated by the company. A Visa card is not going to work on the payment network of Mastercard and the same goes with the Mastercard as well.
One must take note that all Mastercard or Visa cards are not the same and the further differences between these two come from the particular card that you are having. In our everyday spending, Visa and Mastercard have so much in common that seems to make no difference between these two cards. Both the cards are also accepted across the globe the benefits of these cards whether their Mastercard or Visa card is determined by the card issuer, therefore, you must focus on its additional features other than the benefits while choosing the one option from these.
If you are also interested in knowing the difference between these two cards, then you must read this following information carefully that we have provided in this article for helping you out to know the difference between the Visa cards and Mastercard.
Visa vs. Mastercard: Definition
What Is A Visa Card??
Before knowing about the Visa card, you should know about Visa Inc. Visa Inc. is an MNC corporation that is a US-based company that deals with financial services and provide all the financial solutions to people worldwide. It majorly deals with the funds that people can transfer worldwide to anyone through Credit Cards, Debit Cards and Gift Cards by Visa Inc.
There are multiple types of Visa cards that serve a different purpose. Some of them are Visa Classic Credit Card, Visa Gold Credit Card, Visa Platinum Credit Card, Visa Signature Credit Card, Visa Infinite Credit Card, etc.
What is MasterCard??
MasterCard is basically a branded network that mainly practices electronic payment services on behalf of its financial institution’s members to the merchants. It has partnered with several institutions across the world in order to connect several contributors in many kinds of transactions, which also consist of businesses, financial institutions, merchants, along with customers utilising its branded electronic payment cards. The payment cards that have been issued by MasterCard mainly come with the MasterCard logo, and in addition to that, they are even called closed-loop cards as well. These kinds of cards are accepted anywhere in the world, and that logo particularly helps in representing their eligibility for use.
VISA and Mastercard Credit Cards: Brief Figures & Data
Both VISA and Mastercard Credit Cards are accepted across the world and usually, these cards have been accepted by the same merchants which are approx. 33 Million in numbers. As a result, while making the choice between these two networks, you should come down to a decision based on the benefits that you mainly prefer.
There are about 37 Billion Worldwide Transactions of VISA card has been recorded while for the Mastercard, it has been recorded 24 Billion. As we have above said, both the cards have been accepted worldwide which includes more than 210 Countries as well as Territories. Coming to its market share, the VISA card has 48.50 per cent while Mastercard has 31.70 per cent Market Share
Credit cards on VISA cards break down into two tiers that are Standard VISA and VISA Signature. Meanwhile, Mastercard breaks down into three tiers and those are Standard Mastercard, World Mastercard, and World Elite Mastercard.
Visa vs. Mastercard: Comparisons of the Benefits
Purchase Protection
The VISA Signature provides the extended warranty protection to the cardholder which includes a maximum of $10,000 per claim along with $50,000 per cardholder. On the other hand, World & World Elite offers Price Protection that helps in covering up to 60 days when purchasing for World Mastercard, along with 120 days for World Elite as well. In addition to that, the cardholders also get Extended Warranty & Extended Warranty, however, it may subject to diverse or altered limits.
Traditional & Standard
The traditional benefits of VISA credit cards consist of auto rental collision damage coverage, along with zero fraud liability, as well as emergency card replacement, among many others. The Standard benefits of Mastercard consist of identify theft protection, along with emergency card replacement as well as zero fraud liability.
Rental Car Insurance
The VISA credit cards are accessible through both VISA as well as VISA Signature Credit Cards. Its domestic coverage limit is of 15 successive days while for International coverage it takes 31 days. Talking about the Mastercard, it can be accessed through Mastercard, World, as well as through World Elite Cards. It covers the coverage limit of 15 successive days. In the meantime, the World and World Elite cover 31 successive days, particularly on the international rentals. It has been limited to $50,000 per incident as well.
Visa or Mastercard: Which one is Better Option?
The major factor that people should consider while buying the card is the card features and benefits such as its Sign up Bonuses, interest rates, fees, perks, rewards, and many other features. However, you should know that all the Mastercard cards are not the same, and so as the Visa cards which are also not all same and also, the benefits of these cards have been determined by the card issuer. So, it doesn’t matter which one you are choosing, because each card whether its Mastercard or Visa card, the features and benefits will be different. So the main thing that you have a focus on is its features and benefits and not the card’s type. You must also take note that if you have good credit, you are going to qualify for the card with more rewards and perks. So, you just need to build up good credit otherwise, the one with bad credit didn’t get that much of the benefits that you must be expecting for.
Bottom Lines
This was all about the difference between Visa and Mastercard, we hope this information must have helped you out in enlightening your knowledge about these two popular cards.