Visa vs. Amex vs. Mastercard [Differences, Acceptance, and Perks]

You probably factor in a number of things when picking your next credit card, including the card’s travel rewards, cash-back potential, interest rates, and more. But looking at a card’s particular processing network? It’s probably not even on your radar! But which network your card is backed by — Visa, Mastercard, or American Express — has implications for where and how you can use it.

These 3 credit card processors oversee every part of the purchase process, including approving or declining a transaction, protecting you from fraud, providing travel benefits or other protections, and finally, making sure that money flows to and from the correct accounts behind the scenes. Some networks are more widely accepted, some offer better customer service, and others might be the best choice if you have less than stellar credit.

Here’s everything you need to know about these 3 credit card processors and the main differences among them.

Visa, Mastercard, and American Express: Quick Comparisons

Card Issuing

When comparing all 3 networks, there is 1 major difference between American Express and Mastercard or Visa. American Express is both a card issuer and a payment network, while Mastercard and Visa are only payment networks. So what does that mean for you?

Card Issuer

The card issuer is the party that actually extends credit to consumers. When you use your card, the card issuer pays for the transaction up front and gets reimbursed once you pay off your bill each month.

When you are issued an American Express card, you only deal with American Express.

With Mastercard and Visa, you also have a card issuer, which is typically a bank. For example, Chase issues cards with both the Chase and Visa logos on them.

Payment Network

A payment network processes transactions, meaning it transfers funds from the card issuer to the merchant.

In the example noted above, Chase is the credit card issuer and Visa is the payment network.

American Express processes transactions for both its own American Express cards and cards from other issuers that use the American Express network. Examples of other companies that use the American Express payment network include Bank of America, BBVA Compass, Citigroup, U.S. Bank, USAA, and Wells Fargo.

Network Acceptance Rates

Another important factor to consider when comparing networks is how widely accepted it is. In short, it won’t do much good to have a credit card if it’s not accepted at the retailers you plan to visit.

Domestic

To put it simply, the more merchants that accept your card, the better the card’s network. Visa and Mastercard have traditionally been the main contenders, with acceptance rates of 99% of U.S. retailers.

But in recent years, American Express has also increased its acceptance rate of credit card-accepting merchants in the U.S. to 99% as well. This huge change occurred within the past 5 years, meaning that now there is no difference in domestic acceptance rates between the 3 main networks.

It seems likely that a huge reason for this increase is that the fees between the networks have become closer aligned. In February 2020, Nilson reported that Visa and Mastercard swipe fees had a weighted average of 2.26% compared to American Express’s average fee of 2.3% — making this only a 0.04% difference.

International

Unfortunately, American Express’s international acceptance is much lower than its competitors. For example, American Express cards are accepted in more than 160 countries worldwide, which lags behind Visa and Mastercard, which are both accepted in more than 200 countries.

While it’s easier to find places in countries like Canada or Australia that accept American Express, it is harder across Europe and Asia. Just to be safe, the best bet when traveling abroad is to have a Visa or Mastercard in your wallet.

Network Benefits

Your card’s network offers benefits based on the service level of your card, though not every card is guaranteed to include every benefit by level, and issuers could offer any combination of available benefits across levels. It’s likely that your card will offer additional benefits in addition to these network benefits, but the following includes the minimum benefits that may be offered.

Visa

Visa offers 3 levels of benefits for its cards. These levels include the following benefits:

Visa Traditional Benefits

Visa Signature Benefits

Visa Signature offers all of the benefits of Visa Traditional plus:

Visa Infinite Benefits

Finally, Visa Infinite offers all of the perks of Traditional and Signature, in addition to:

Mastercard

Mastercard also offers 3 levels, each of which offers different minimum benefits. Here are the primary benefits at each level.

Standard Mastercard Benefits

World Mastercard Benefits

World Elite Mastercard Benefits

American Express

Specific benefits for American Express vary by card, but some common benefits offered include things like:

Eligibility

There are all sorts of credit cards on the market, including cash-back cards, rewards cards, business cards, etc. Each of these credit cards that you apply for has its own set of eligibility requirements related to credit score, credit history, and income levels.

In general, the more benefits a card provides, the harder it is to qualify for. But in terms of comparing eligibility requirements for Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, American Express may be the hardest issuer to qualify for, as most cards require applicants to have a “good” credit score of at least 670 to qualify.

In contrast, many cards offered by Visa and Mastercard only require a “fair” credit rating of 630. This is because Visa and Mastercard aren’t the issuers and thus don’t control the minimum requirements. Banks and other card issuers can set these levels independently and aren’t as stringent with their requirements.

This means that if you’re an applicant who has defaulted on a loan or has a limited credit history, you’re more likely to get approved for a card in the Visa or Mastercard network.

Card Selection

There’s just not as wide a selection of cards issued by American Express compared to the number of cards that hold the Visa or Mastercard logo. This is because, as the card issuer, it offers its own cards and only a limited selection of cards with other card issuers in the American Express payment network. 

If you want a wider selection of cards to choose from, you’d be better off picking a card in the Mastercard or Visa network.

Customer Service

American Express has an excellent reputation when it comes to customer service. In the 2023 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study by J.D. Power, American Express came in first in overall customer satisfaction. It has also done well consistently year over year.

You don’t interact with Visa or Mastercard for customer service issues. Instead, you contact the credit card company that issued the card, like Bank of America, Chase, etc. There are many different companies that issue cards, so ultimately Visa and Mastercard don’t have control over the quality of the customer service you receive. 

Card Features May Be More Important

Choosing a credit card based on the credit card issuer and features of the individual card is more important than choosing based on the credit card’s network.

Hotel and Airline Partners

If you want a card specific to the hotel or airline you frequently use, you might be restricted to certain networks. For example, American Express is the only network that offers Delta and Hilton cards. United and Southwest cards are only offered on Visa. And if you want a Hawaiian Airlines card, this will be with Mastercard.

Transferable Points Currency Partners

Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Amex Membership Rewards each have different transfer partners. Transferable points currencies should be a huge factor when determining the best card for you. Racking up points you can use for your next hotel stay or flight is surely more valuable than points or miles you would never use.

For example, if you’re hoping to use your points to get a flight on Aer Lingus, go with a card that can get you Amex Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards. Check out our Transfer Partner Tool Calculator to help you easily sort through the best options.

Store-Branded Cards

If you want a store card, you may not have any say in what network you use. For example, Target’s credit card is a Mastercard, the Costco Anywhere Visa^® Card by Citi is on the Visa network, and Macy’s credit cards are processed by American Express.

Specific Card Benefits

We briefly discussed the benefits above, but you need to decide what you are looking to get back from a credit card. For example, are you looking for a card that can get you into airport lounges (like Priority Pass or Centurion lounges), give you cash-back on certain spending categories, or offer 0% APR balance transfers?

Finding a card that matches your requirements will usually be more important than picking a card network.

How Do You Choose Between American Express, Visa, and Mastercard?

Putting this all together, there are a few important items to consider when deciding among these 3 major credit card networks.

1. Credit Score: You should first check your credit and see which types of accounts you’re likely to qualify for before you apply. If you have good to excellent credit, you can pick your favorite network and card. If your score is lower, you may need to apply for a Visa or Mastercard that will help increase your score.
2. Where You Spend Money: If you plan on using your credit card primarily in the U.S., you won’t run into much trouble using a credit card from any of these 3 processing networks. However, if you plan to travel internationally, a Visa or Mastercard may be better, since they are accepted more places. In addition, you should consider that some retailers only accept cards from certain networks (like Costco only accepting Visa).
3. Travel Rewards: As we discussed above, certain issuers have relationships with specific travel companies and travel rewards partners. If you have a preference for companies, pick the network that benefits you the most.
4. Diversification: You might want to consider carrying cards from multiple credit card networks and issuers. This would be a good idea if you have run into a retailer that only accepts certain networks or if you have a problem with a particular credit card issuer cutting your credit limits or closing your accounts.

Final Thoughts

If most of your transactions are made in the U.S., you shouldn’t really run into any issues with your card being accepted. However, if you plan to travel internationally, a Visa or Mastercard may be better for you. At a minimum, it might be a good idea to keep cards with different networks to cover you in all circumstances.

We know that choosing a credit card based on the credit card issuer and the features of the specific card is probably a bigger consideration than choosing based on the credit card processing network. But as you can see, each network offers different protections, levels of customer service, and even types of rewards, so it’s important to factor this into your decision, as well.