VISA v. MasterCard

Legacy_user

Opened a FlexDirect earlier in the year and was given a Select Credit card too but haven't really used it and am thinking of closing it.

I already have a Halifax Clarity Reward MasterCard for forex use.

Are there any major differences in VISA coverage making the Nationwide worth keeping?

*Scarlett

There is no harm keeping the Nationwide card - Visa does normally give you protection on items purchased over a certain amount.

zagfles

It's worth having at least two cards for foreign use in case one gets blocked.

zagubov

zagfles wrote: »

It's worth having at least two cards for foreign use in case one gets blocked.

Good point, other zag.;)

Definitely keep if you go to Europe. IIRC Visa was more common in France like Mastercard is in the US. In the Netherlands so many people use cash you may find restaurants etc. may just accept either MC or Visa but not both. There are ways of saving money by debt-shifting that need a minimum of two cards.

grumbler

Reportedly there are some differences in coverage: Credit card for overseas cash

System

Thanks

Debt shifting isn't currently a issue for me - I don't carry balances.

I have a backup Visa charge card - so do have access to the Visa network if needed but it has a standard loading.

zagubov wrote: »

Good point, other zag.;)

Definitely keep if you go to Europe. IIRC Visa was more common in France like Mastercard is in the US. In the Netherlands so many people use cash you may find restaurants etc. may just accept either MC or Visa but not both. There are ways of saving money by debt-shifting that need a minimum of two cards.

reclusive46

grumbler wrote: »

Reportedly there are some differences in coverage: Credit card for overseas cash

ATM difference is the main difference. Some countries a lot of ATMs will only run on one network. Cuba is Visa only, One of the ATM banks in Thailand only takes domestic debit cards and MasterCard. A lot of ATMs in Japan take American Express and JCB but nothing else (Pretty much all apart from Post Office and 7-11). If your in Japan and have an Amex, just say you need some emergency cash and they'll refund the ATM fees.

Although MasterCard is accepted in about 3 million more locations according to the Visa and MasterCard stats, but I'm not entirely sure where these places are lol. They normally have the same partnerships with merchant banks, so acceptance is the same.

The only place I've been where credit cards are accepted but not Visa , MasterCard wasn't accepted either (Apart from Netherlands), it was in Boston and they would only take American Express (Didn't bother me as I was working and had to pay on Corporate Amex anyway). Thats relatively common for restaurants in the Boston and NYC area though.

System

Thanks for all the advice everyone

The Nationwide charges for ATM withdrawals so isn't much better than a standard Visa card in that respect.

reclusive46 wrote: »

ATM difference is the main difference.

It's only major niche (as far as I can see) is for loading free purchases only where Clarity MasterCard isn't accepted.

It's chances of survival don't look good