Question
In the United States, at least, Mastercard and Visa are widely regarded as interchangeable cards. Notice, for example, that the operators of Flyertalk have combined then in a single forum <g>.
Now that USA banks will be able to issue American Express cards, I wonder if this will cause Mastercard and Visa to try to differentiate themselves in order to maintain or increase their share of the charge volume?
dennis
Answer
Notice how MC and Visa never criticise each other in their adveritsements either. Makes you wonder if they have some kind of agreement.
Answer
Notice how MC and Visa never criticise each other in their adveritsements either. Makes you wonder if they have some kind of agreement.
Visa and Mastercard are essentially the same company. VERY rarely does one place take one card and not the other (in the US at least) WHY? The boards of both companies are nearly identical.
Answer
Visa and Mastercard have interlocking ownership, they are both owned by a consortium of banks and there is substantial overlap, but they are separate entities.
You can read the history of Visa here...
http://www.usa.visa.com/about_visa/about_visa_usa/history.html?
Mastercard here ...
http://www.mastercardinternational.com/corporate/heritage.html