Visa Mastercard Worldwide Acceptance
In terms of number of countries serviced discover lags behind the other three cards.
Visa mastercard worldwide acceptance. Since american express and discover aren t accepted as widely they only accounted for a fraction of that. In 2016 visa accounted for 139 billion of worldwide purchase transactions trailed by mastercard with 67 3 billion. The gap between amex and visa mastercard is most notable in the number of worldwide merchant acceptance locations 22 1 million versus 44 4 million. It s important to note that not all purchases are covered under price.
Mastercard s current us processing rules for businesses clearly state that you ll have a choice of which cards you ll accept. World and world elite mastercard credit cards qualify for price protection. As with visa there are rules you must follow which are addressed later in this article. Mastercard is a leader in global payments and a technology company that connects billions of consumers thousands of financial institutions and millions of merchants as well as governments and businesses around the world.
11 these categories come with standardized provisions for issuers. While visa is larger in terms of. Visa and mastercard are by far the most widely accepted cards with discover slightly behind those brands and american express in a distant fourth place. We compared the merchant acceptance of the four major global card payment networks american express discover mastercard and visa and found that visa and mastercard have the highest number.
That s a difference of 22 3 million merchant locations which is why bringing along your amex cards may not be the best choice when traveling. Mastercard and visa on the other hand are like the best buds that have your back. As illustrated both in the u s. And worldwide visa and mastercard are the most accepted credit card issuers worldwide with discover close behind and amex trailing significantly behind.
Like visa mastercard permits your business to only accept credit cards or only accept debit cards if you choose. When deciding if. Users of both mastercard and visa products however will not find themselves shut out of many credit card use opportunities worldwide. In general visa is known for offering three card levels.
Base signature and infinite. Visa acceptance visa as of 2009 reports acceptance by 30 million merchants in more than 170 countries according to the 2009 business travel survey published by business travel news. If you make a purchase and that item s price is lowered within 60 days of the purchase the network will refund you the difference up to a certain amount per claim. 7 2 and 2 3 billion respectively.
You can t really go wrong with either one. Any retailer that accepts card payments likely takes visa and mastercard.