Visa vs Mastercard

Visa or Mastercard

The variations between Visa and Mastercard are minimal, particularly if you plan to use your card for online casino payments. Regardless of which card you hold, you can expect to have a nearly identical payment experience with either card. The bigger difference comes from the bank or card issuer that you choose. They greatly influence both the conditions associated with the card and your ongoing experience with it. Conditions like the interest rate on your purchases, or whether you earn bonuses or cashback, can vary tremendously— and not for the better— if you make the wrong choice.

Difference between Visa and Mastercard

Keeping track of the small, usually inconsequential, differences can be helpful when you want to use credit card to play at online casinos. More than anything, it's good to know the differences when deciding which card to get.

• Overall, more merchants around the globe accept Mastercard than Visa. But in less developed countries, you can run into some serious problems trying to pay with a Visa card.
• Merchants are not permitted by Visa to impose a fee when payments are made. Traders are also prohibited from establishing a minimum amount limit on purchases made with the card.
• On the whole, Mastercard provides a superior exchange rate relative to Visa. This can be a helpful metric to weigh if you're gambling with a currency other than the New Zealand dollar. Yet even in this area, the two networks are practically indistinguishable. All in all, if you're going to gamble with a U.S.-denominated card, you might as well use a prepaid Visa. Still, the most significant factor isn't the network; it's the card issuer.

Security

The two largest international cards are Visa and Mastercard, and the security of both is exceptionally high. So, when it comes to making a decision between these two for anything related to security, you shouldn't worry because the card you choose is not going to let you down in terms of safety. What you should be considering instead, especially if you plan to make a purchase in person or online, is whether the merchant you're buying from is reliable and has measures in place to protect both themselves and you from fraud. This is the more relevant security question.

Fees

Choosing Visa over Mastercard may benefit you when it comes to fees. The reason? Visa prohibits merchants from hitting you with a "gotcha" surprise. You pay your way, and the merchant cannot legally charge you to use your Visa. Pay with your Mastercard, and the opposite may be true—you're on risk of paying an additional "merchants can charge" fee if you're using your Mastercard and the merchant has chosen to charge such a fee. And while we're at it, in New Zealand, you are safe to use both Visa and Mastercard since neither can legally charge you the "gotcha" fee.

Characteristics and facts

Given that we can assert that the disparities between Visa and Mastercard are minimal, we have compiled a set of data and card traits for your perusal. If you wish to conduct a side-by-side comparison of the cards to simplify your decision-making process, we encourage you to do so. The cards feature not only distinctions but also a myriad of similarities. For one, both are equally secure to use, boasting impressive safety measures when employed. Moreover, they can both dish out rewards and other perks upon making a purchase. But in the end, the onus is on you to select a card that meets your individual needs and tastes.

Which is better-Visa or Mastercard?

Given that the distinctions between the two cards are minimal, we would argue that it doesn't really matter which you select. It's far more important to pick a bank or card issuer you feel has favorable terms.

Things that are good to look at when choosing between the cards are:

• Yearly charge associated with the card
• What advantages come with the card?
• What is the amount of the foreign currency surcharge for payments made in a foreign currency?

Online casino availability

Today, not every online casino has card payments as a payment method. Casinos are moving towards offering only fast payment methods, such as Trustly and Swish. But our experience is that if a casino has card payments as an option among its payment methods, it is always possible to use both Visa and Mastercard. So it makes no big difference for you who want to play at the online casino which of the two cards you use. The difference may be in the choice of casino, i.e. between the different operators, but not directly for the individual cards and for you as a card user at a Visa casino or Mastercard casino.

Credit card or debit card

Both Visa and Mastercard are credit cards, meaning that the card is linked to a bank account. You will instead receive an invoice at the end of the month with all the purchases you have made. However, both companies also have debit cards, i.e., cards that are directly linked to a bank account. At Visa, the card is called ""Visa Electron,"" and at Mastercard, the card is called ""Maestro."" When it comes to playing at the casino, these cards can be a better option. Difficulty in keeping track of how much one is gambling and for how long was a behavioral problem that some gamblers had. To help with this, some casino goers would use debit cards because the money would be withdrawn directly from their bank account. However, I would argue that both of these casino debit card options are bad choices.