Visa versus Matercard ?

Scotialad

For some reason, my bank has announced that it intends to replace my existing Visa card, the only C.C. I have ever held, with a MasterCard, so I was wondering what the differences were between the two?

Over the many years I have held this card, I have been quite happy with my Visa card, using it for purchases only:-

No annual fee
Widely accepted (I have never encountered a company that didn’t accept Visa)
Nothing to pay, as I always pay the full amount each month (direct debit)

The only charge that I have encountered is the 2.75% commission for purchases made in currencies other than Sterling.

What are the pros/cons of Visa versus MasterCard?

TIA.

JasonW_2

I've wondered about this recently as well, seems more banks are offering mastercard, when it appeared to be dominated by visa. Perhaps this is the reason in itself, to stop mastercard dying out or they are offering the banks lower charges in a bid to stop themselves dying out...? Either way, I'm not sure there are many differences but there must be otherwise why would they exist? I like to have a mastercard and visa incase one network goes down, which has happened before, and there is a backup card that can be used. It seems that a lot of visa's are being replaced by mastercard so this might not always be possible if you can't get new cards.

givememoney

I had a Sainsburys Visa card for years but gradually realised the Nectar Points I was getting were slowly but surely becomming worth less and less.

In May this year I went over to a Morgan Stanley Master Card. I have found no difference in acceptance and as I always pay off my monthly bill the interest rate is immaterial to me.

What have got over the 6 months or so is a cash back total of £55 which is worth far more than the miserable amount of Nectar Points I would have clocked up for the same period.

lisyloo

I don't think there's much difference (to you).
Your bank is probably doing this for cost reasons.

I have held one of each for a long time but I don't think I've ever gone anywhere in the last 10 years that doesn't accept both.

There used to be a cost difference outside of the EU (mastercard was a bit cheaper).
I'm not sure if this information is now up to date but would only affect you if you do a lot of travelling outside of the EU.

Scotialad

Many thanks for all the replies.

Not sure if it makes any difference, but I forgot to mention that the vast majority of purchases that I make are mail order (phone, net etc.), worldwide.

I notice that the charity cards that my bank offers, for the moment, at least, are still Visa, so it seems to be their ‘main’ card that is changing. Coincidentally, prior to the recent announcement of the change from Visa to MasterCard, I had been considering changing to a charity card (Scottish SPCA), so I wonder if it would be worth doing that, instead (although, from what has been said, it doesn’t look as though there will be any problem with MasterCard.) The only reasons for not having already changed to the charity card were the presumed loss of my existing account number (which I know from memory), whether there were any practical differences between the cards, and whether there would be much hassle in making the change - Not very altruistic reasons, I’m afraid.

Perhaps I should make a separate post, but is there anything to look out for with regard to charity cards, relative to ‘standard’ cards?

JoseChungsDoomsday

Mastercard is in no danger of dying out!! Visa is the main card issuer in most of europe, and mastercard seems to be stepping its game (In the USA I think it's the major player) within europe.

I've had a few friends who have halifax credit cards moan about the change but to be honest there really is no need for it!!

Phoenix79_2

They are pretty much of a muchness. Where one is accepted, the other will be too. To be honest i never really look whether the card i want is issued by Visa or Mastercard. The actual benefits of the card itself is what interests me most

billlew

As anybody received their new card (Halifax) as mine hasn't arrived yet.

Dazza.mk_2

One place where Mastercard is (slightly) more widely accepted

In areas of Germany credit cards aren't that popular (Germany is much more a cash economy than our credit economy), supposedly however Mastercard is more widely accepted - based on what was originally the Eurocard network (Eurocheque Card).

Fahim_2

billlew wrote:

As anybody received their new card (Halifax) as mine hasn't arrived yet.

are you asking about halifax one? I applied because the customer service told me i can get a visa but they gave me mastercard. Then my friend applied and received a visa card...

King_Of_Fools

http://www.findoutmorehalifax.co.uk/