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Visa / Mastercard ?

Whats the difference between Visa and Mastercard? Is one preferable when getting credit/debit cards?
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Comments

  • sdj25
    sdj25 Posts: 278 Forumite
    Visa used to be the only runners in the UK market. And had a contract solely with Barclays.

    I believe it was TSB & a couple of the other banks that got together to fight back against this & set up Maestro. Which later got swallowed up by who we know today as Mastercard.

    There's no real difference between the two anymore, it used to be that shops would take one & not the other - but now-a-days eveywhere UK-wise seems to take either. If you go further abroad, Europe tends to favour Mastercard - and Visa is more commonly accepted in the States.

    There's quite a few threads about it already, so you may want to search for other responses.
  • lee634
    lee634 Posts: 1,030 Forumite
    I agree with sdj25 in the fact that europe favours mastercard,
    in the last few years in france this was specially true in their resturants,

    but now they are tending to use visa a lot moreas well
  • Astaroth
    Astaroth Posts: 5,444 Forumite
    They formed Access rather than Maestro which then became mastercard.

    In most countries these days there is no benefit of having one or the other however they are seperate entities and so it is possible for a merchant to only accept one or the other. It is almost unheard of in the UK but it may be more common in other countries.
    All posts made are simply my own opinions and are neither professional advice nor the opinions of my employers
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  • lisyloo
    lisyloo Posts: 29,878 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I have a feeling that I read somewhere that is a different between what Mastercard/Visa charge for currency exchange OUTSIDE of the EU.

    I think Mastercard was better.

    This may now be totally out of date but if someone can clarify then that would be great.
  • sdj25
    sdj25 Posts: 278 Forumite
    Astaroth wrote:
    They formed Access rather than Maestro which then became mastercard.

    That's the one!! Hey, it's early - i'm tired! :)
  • Astaroth
    Astaroth Posts: 5,444 Forumite
    I would say I have a hang over but I think the reality is that I am still drunk - took me long enough to remember what it used to be called too.
    All posts made are simply my own opinions and are neither professional advice nor the opinions of my employers
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  • sdj25
    sdj25 Posts: 278 Forumite
    Did you initially type Accsesh ? ;)
  • I must say that I have never come across a retailer that only accepts Visa or Mastercard without accepting the other in recent years. However, as others have said, it is technically possible so I would advise getting at least one card of each type.
  • payless
    payless Posts: 6,957 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Sad I know, but TSB was actually originally in the VISA camp.. like most banks they later also started issuing Mastercard
    Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as (financial) advice.
  • Astaroth
    Astaroth Posts: 5,444 Forumite
    sdj25 wrote:
    Did you initially type Accsesh ? ;)
    :D

    Well, I just put that down to the dyslexia ;)
    All posts made are simply my own opinions and are neither professional advice nor the opinions of my employers
    No Advertising or Links in Signatures by Site Rules - MSE Forum Team 2
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