One of the common misconceptions about the two payment processors Visa and MasterCard are that they issue credit cards. But the truth is that they are not card issuers, because they are intermediaries between banks and customers. These two companies provide an ultimate number of services to customers through banks. While the MasterCard provides three levels of services, the Visa card provides only two levels of services.
Since the two companies offer similar benefits that the two companies offer to the cardholder, it is a bit difficult to decide which of the two payment systems is better.
Visa Company
Visa Inc is a payments technology company; It guarantees the electronic transfer of funds worldwide. It is a multinational company headquartered in Foster City, California, USA. The financial services company is known for offering credit, debit, and prepaid cards to individuals and business consumers.
Visa Inc does not issue a credit card or provide credit directly to its customers, rather it cooperates with banks and financial institutions, and provides them with payment products under the brand name “Visa”. Banks and financial institutions use these products to provide various facilities such as debit, credit, prepaid, etc. for their clients. for the Visa cards, it offers as well as for the customers to whom it offers the cards.
When a customer makes a payment with a Visa card, it is the issuing company that receives the payment, not Visa Inc. However, the source of income for the credit card company is that they charge a small percentage to merchants and businesses to accept the Visa card as payment.
MasterCard Corporation MasterCard
MasterCard is a multinational payment technology company, which has relationships with banks and financial institutions to issue credit cards, for the purpose of processing payments. The company is headquartered in Harrison, New York, USA, and was previously known as Interbank and Master charge.
The financial services company offers various products such as credit, debit, prepaid and prepaid cards, under the trade name “MasterCard”, which are accepted by all merchants worldwide. MasterCard does not issue credit cards or extend credit to customers in fact, it does not have direct customer interaction. But the bank or financial institution, with which the company works, distributes financial products to customers. So fees, interest, and bonuses are determined by the bank itself. Further, the decision of who will issue the card is also made by the bank.
As in the case of Visa Inc. MasterCard also makes money by charging sellers a small percentage to accept MasterCard as payment.
The main differences between Visa and MasterCard
The following points are noteworthy regarding the difference between Visa and MasterCard:
- Visa Inc. It is a financial services company that facilitates the electronic transfer of funds worldwide. MasterCard is a technology company in the international payments industry, which processes payments.
- The Visa card provides two benefits to its customer level, i.e. Basic and Signature Visa. On the other hand, three levels of benefits are provided by MasterCard, i.e. Basic, World, and World Elite MasterCard.
- The total market capitalization of MasterCard in August 2016 is 106.92 billion, while the total value of Visa is 192.34 billion.
- The revenue generated by Visa Inc. 14.39 billion, while MasterCard's revenue is 10.19 billion.
- Visa Inc. net income. And MasterCard is 5.56 billion and 3.86 billion, respectively.
Learn about the security options in Visa and MasterCard
- The approved signature panel: It is an electronic panel located behind the card and contains the signature of the account holder and is to match the signature of the account holder based on the signature in the bank.
- Card Confirmation CCV: It is 3 digits randomly selected from the account number and it is located behind the card or under the approved signature panel in a box.
- Bank identification numbers: They are 4 numbers that are specific to the type of bank that the card and account holder deals with and is easy to identify.
- The name of the cardholder: It is the name written on the cards, which is used to verify the identity.
Their similarities are that Visa Inc and MasterCard are both publicly traded US multinational companies operating in the financial services sector. These two are the payment system, which has gained acceptance all over the world. They provide financial products to their clients and act as an intermediary between the bank and the client.
And finally: these two financial service institutions are competitors, and that's why their industry, sector, business, and acceptance are the same. These two management benefits such as shopping discounts, car rental, fraud protection insurance, and other benefits. We hope that you will share your opinions with us in the comments.
