Credit card acceptance depends heavily on payment networks like Visa and Mastercard; American Express cards tend to be accepted less widely.
There may be exceptions when merchants have exclusive deals with one card network. Costco wholesale clubs used to only accept American Express cards until 2016, but now accept both networks.
Visa
Visa is the world’s leading credit card network with 46 million merchant locations in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. However, some stores only accept payments from certain payment networks due to partnership considerations; Costco wholesale clubs accept only Visa cards while Sam’s Club used to only accept Mastercard cards but now takes both types.
Institutions issuing your card have an enormous effect on whether it can be used at various retailers. Fees, rewards and perks offered by different banks differ significantly, so it is crucial that you compare offers in order to secure the best deals.
MasterCard, Discover and American Express credit cards offer another good option when traveling overseas as they do not incur foreign transaction fees. Furthermore, these credit cards provide greater security than cash or checks while helping to track spending habits more closely.
Mastercard
MasterCard processes payment transactions for more than 2 billion cards worldwide, such as credit, debit and prepaid. As one of four global card networks – along with Visa, Discover and American Express – MasterCard does not issue its own cards but instead provides services to financial institutions who then issue them themselves.
MasterCard is one of the world’s premier card networks, accepting over 210 countries and territories around the globe. MasterCard became famous with their acclaimed “There are some things money can’t buy” advertising campaign during the 1990s.
Mastercard and Visa cards are widely accepted, though some merchants have exclusive arrangements with one card network over another. For instance, Costco wholesale clubs accept only Visa while Sam’s Club takes only American Express cards – these exceptions typically arise when there is an agreement in place that mandates merchants accept only certain card companies’ offerings exclusively; nonetheless most retailers and online merchants accept both options simultaneously.
Discover
Discover Cards are accepted worldwide in almost all establishments accepting credit card payments, both domestically and internationally.1
Discover merchant fees are higher than Visa and MasterCard’s, making Discover less appealing to small businesses unless their profit from sales can cover these extra costs.
However, Discover is working to reduce this gap, boasting an astounding 99% acceptance rate among U.S. merchants that accept credit cards (according to an industry newsletter by Nilson Report in February 2020) while trailing Visa and Mastercard internationally; when traveling internationally it would be prudent to carry at least one of those as back up cards; you can check Discover’s international acceptance map to determine whether your card will work where you plan on going.
American Express
American Express lagged behind Visa, Mastercard and Discover in terms of swipe fees due to its higher swipe fees for years, but that has begun to change as fees become more comparable.
AmEx’s OptBlue program, which allows small businesses to accept American Express cards using existing processors who set swipe fee rates, has played a critical role in creating “virtual parity” among Visa and Mastercard domestically.
American Express still trails behind its rivals internationally, however. That may be because accepting AmEx requires businesses to have high credit scores and typically offers superior rewards over other cards; additionally it charges high annual fees that only its wealthiest clientele can afford. American Express has tried to increase acceptance by running ads featuring celebrities like Tiger Woods and Jerry Seinfeld; furthermore it operates a travel-related division which offers personal, small business and corporate credit cards as well as traveler’s checks as well as tour packages and agency travel services.
