Oct 15, 2007 04:59 PM
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MasterCardand VisaCardare the two leading credit card companies in the world today . They both operate in a very similar way.
Visa claims to have over a billion cards issued tilldate, MasterCard has over 25000 banks issuing its cards .
But, as far as most consumers are concerned, there is no real difference between the two. They are both very widely accepted in over one hundred and fifty countries and it is very rare to find a location that will accept one but not the other.
However, neither Visa nor MasterCard actually issue any credit cards themselves. They are both simply methods of payment.( *read a simple procedure of eCommerce and you will get to know all *) They rely on banks in various countries to issue credit cards that utilise these payment methods. Therefore, the interest rates, rewards, annual fees, and all other charges are issued by your bank and when you pay your bill you are paying it to the bank or institution that issued your card and not Visa or MasterCard.
How Visa and MasterCard make their money is by charging the retailer for using their payment method. So the truth is that a Visa issued by say the SBI will have very little to do with a Visa issued by AxisBank .
What this means for the vast majority of customers is that you do not have to overly concern yourself with whether a credit card is MasterCard or Visa. You would be better off concentrating on the interest and other charges on the card, the balance transfer possibilities or their reward scheme. You are very unlikely to ever be effected by the fact that it is one and not the other.
If you prefer, if you are going to have two credit cards, you may decide that you want one of them to be Visa and the other MasterCard, this means that if something drastic were to happen to one company, or if you were in the unlikely position of finding a location that accepts one but not the other, then you would have the option of paying with either.
At the end of the day however, much more depends on the bank that gave you the card, than on the type of card it is.
