American Express, Mastercard or Visa?

Question

Which is the best credit card to get in terms of UK and international acceptance?

Answer 1

How Visa and MasterCard make their money is by charging the retailer for using their payment method. So the truth of the matter is that a Visa issued by say the Bank of Scotland will have very little to do with a Visa issued by other banks and may in fact by more similar to the Bank of Scotland’s MasterCard.

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.

Answer 2

American Express is a different cards scheme all of its own, as is diners club. Infact they are not credit cards in the same sense as M/Card & Visa. They have no upper credit limit, you just spend what you want on AMEX or Diners and then get a bill to clear so it is some form of credit or tab like a bar tab. They are generally accepted in a lot less locations than the other card schemes.

As stated in another answer, they make their money from charging a % from the transaction, known as interchange fees,they are being investigated on this by the EU.

There is little difference between them, they are generally accepted where the other is, the main difference will be in the terms and conditions, though again this will vary from bank to bank (known as issuers).

The merchants who accept them are aquirers, not all banks that issue act as aquireres. There are more issuers, infact anybody company who wants to could turn into an issuer if they wanted to and met the conditions of the card schemes.

It is best to have both in case there is a problem with one of the schemes during authorisation so you have a contingency. Many banks offer combined schemes where you get both with a credit limit that is shared between them.

The main thing is the T & C's of the issuing bank as well as the offers they chuck in.

Can you beleive after all this I got turned down by Visa last month after 10 years in the industry! Pah

Answer 3

Visa is best. American Express gets rejected every where and mastercard is not the best. We reccomend that you have both a visa and a mastercard if travelling and working in various places so you dont get caught out.

Answer 4

All of them have their pros and cons, personally I carry both a visa and a mastercard, I've never applied or considered having American express

Answer 5

Most places in the USA will accept all three, as well as Discover. Many also accept JCB. One might argue that JCB is the best way to get money from a bank, but only if you are British (or google JCB and see what comes out as the top hit).

Answer 6

All three are pretty much accepted world wide. Get the one that gives you the best deal as far as interest rates and also points or cash back. Read the fine print. A lot of them offer low interest rates for new accounts and then kill you 6 months down the road.

Answer 7

Visa definitely. Accepted everywhere.

Answer 8

Visa is more accepted than the others

Answer 9

I find that quite a few places in britain dont accept american express. The other two are very widely accepted.

Answer 10

I'd start with Visa