Visa Vs Mastercard

September 12, 2024

Registrationwala

Most people who own credit cards or debit cards either have ‘visa’ or ‘mastercard’ logo on their cards. If you’ve ever wondered what is Visa and Mastercard, then the answer is that both of them are global payment networks that enable electronic transactions and connect consumers, businesses, and financial institutions. But what is the difference between visa & mastercard? Well, there are a few differences. To find out, go through this article.

What is Visa?

A Visa card, sometimes simply called Visa, is a widely accepted payment method that uses the Visa network, known as VisaNet, for processing transactions. A Visa card can be a credit card, debit card, or a gift card and is issued by a bank or NBFC having a partnership with Visa. You can easily identify a visa card through its logo.

Visa card was first introduced in 1958 when Bank of America launched the first consumer credit card program in the United States of America. Visa is the largest payment network in the world.

What is Mastercard?

A Mastercard, originally called Interbank and then Master Charge, is a global payment network that enables customers to make transactions and is issued by the financial institutions. Mastercard payment cards use the mastercard network to handle all transactional communications.

Mastercard was created in 1966 by several California banks in order to compete with BankAmericard (now Visa). After Visa, Mastercard is the second-largest payment network in the world.

Difference between Visa and Mastercard

The basic difference between visa and mastercard is that, while the Mastercard is owned by Mastercard Inc., a New York based company, the Visa card is owned by Visa Inc.

To know all the major differences between master card vs visa card, check out the table below:

Parameters	Visa	Mastercard
Founded In	1958	1966
Owned by	Visa Inc.	Mastercard Inc.
Payment Network	VisaNet	Mastercard Network
Cards offered by Visa/Mastercard	Visa Classic, Visa Gold, Visa Business, Visa Infinite, Visa Corporate & Visa Platinum	Standard Mastercard, World Mastercard & Elite Mastercard
Cards and Purchase Volume	Higher in circulation compared to Mastercard cards.	Lower in circulation compared to Visa cards.

By looking at the table above, you can understand the difference between visa vs mastercard. Both of them are widely accepted payment networks and offer more or less the same rewards to the customers.

Conclusion

After going through this blog post titled ‘Visa vs Mastercard’, you must’ve had a clear understanding of the difference between Visa and MasterCard. Both of them are widely accepted payment methods across the world. Whether you will receive a Visa card or a Mastercard generally depends on who your bank/NBFC has a tie-up with. Nevertheless, both of them are considered to be equally secure. However, they use different methods for securing data. If you liked this post, check out our other blog posts in the blog section!

FAQs about Mastercard vs Visa

Q1. What is the minimum age requirement for obtaining a Visa card or a Mastercard?

A. In order to obtain a visa card or a mastercard, you must be at least 18 years old. However, some banks in India have a minimum age requirement of 21 years for issuing these cards.

Q2. Visa Cards are blocked in which countries?

A. Although visa cards can be accessed in most countries, they are blocked in some countries like Iran, Sudan and Russia.

Q3. Which card is safer between a Mastercard and a Visa Card?

A. Both these cards are considered to be equally safe and secure.

Q4. Is a Mastercard a debit card or a credit card?

A. A Mastercard can be issued as a debit card or a credit card, depending on your preference and requirements

Q5. Is Visa older than Mastercard?

A. Yes, Visa is older than Mastercard. While the former was founded in 1958, the latter was founded in 1966.