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Visa / Mastercard ?
aj3001
Posts: 730 Forumite
in Credit cards
Whats the difference between Visa and Mastercard? Is one preferable when getting credit/debit cards?
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Comments
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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.0 -
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 well0 -
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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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This may now be totally out of date but if someone can clarify then that would be great.0 -
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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Did you initially type Accsesh ?0
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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.0
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Sad I know, but TSB was actually originally in the VISA camp.. like most banks they later also started issuing MastercardAny posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as (financial) advice.0
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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 20
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