Visa or Mastercard

[DektolMan]

We are traveling overseas to South Africa and Botswana and not sure if I should take 2 Visa cards or 1 Visa & 1 Mastercard.


Anyone have any experiences on which card would be best?


Thanks

 

[brett]

We travel with both.

Had no issues with either in South Africa, Zambia, and Botswana five years ago.

Cannot remember if one was better than the other. We used our Visa primarily because it the specific card did not add a 2.5 percent admin charge on foreign transactions.

 

[bushpilot]

I honestly don't remember if it matters. But certainly bring your debit card, which you can use to get cash in the ATMs. If you have time, open a Schwab account, they offer no fee ATM withdrawals worldwide, with no foreign fees, and refund of any charges made by the ATM owner. Truly free, and the best exchange rate you can get.

I'm jealous.

 

[easysurfer]

Visa vs Mastercard. Coke vs Pepsi. Pretty much the same thing unless you want to delve into the nitty gritty.

 

[Aerides]

It's a good question, and they aren't the same in acceptance and coverage outside the US. It's been a while but I recall in parts of the EU there were plenty of places that took MC only, not Visa, in the aughts at least.

Personally, when traveling, flexible access to money is always good, so at least one of each, especially if one becomes lost/stolen/damaged while out and about. You can also keep the extras in your hotel room safe.

 

[sengsational]

My recent online experience with Visa and an overseas vendor is proving to be intractable; I simply can not pay because they go through "Verified by Visa" and my US card does not participate in that program.


I don't know if MasterCard has this separate "security thing", but if it doesn't, or if it does and "everybody" participates, that would put MasterCard ahead.

 

[Nemo2]

Never had an issue with Visa in Botswana, but around 35 years ago when my late wife still had her Amex card, an outlet in Kenya asked for another card "Because Amex are slow payers" .

 

[davebarnes]

Both.
Read this https://www.wired.com/story/visa-outage-shows-the-fragility-of-global-payments/

 

[Bklyn55]

A bit off topic, but if you go to an AMEX office or other money exchange place in South Africa, make sure you bring your passport with you. Its required.

 

[brett]

The only card we have that was is accepted everywhere was our American Express card. We are in the middle of a two month trip. Our Amex card is at home.

 

[bmcgonig]

Bring a few cards. If one gets stopped out cos of fraud then you'll still have two.

If you're renting cars or anything where you might use the cards benefits then MC and Visa differ sometimes on those benefits.

 

[sengsational]

I don't know if MasterCard has this separate "security thing", but if it doesn't, or if it does and "everybody" participates, that would put MasterCard ahead.

MasterCard, in general, is no better. There's probably 3 flavors of cards: 1) Comes with 3DS automatically, 2) 3DS can be added, and 3) 3DS can NOT be added. It's this third kind that is absolutely useless for use in European "card not present" transactions.

The industry’s response to this surge has been 3-D Secure (3DS), known un-
der its brand names ‘Verified by Visa’ and ‘MasterCard SecureCode’ [1]. In its
initial form, 3DS would pop up a password entry form to a bank customer who
attempted an online card payment; she would enter a password and, if it was
correct, would be returned to the merchant website to complete the transaction.
Difficulties arose with pop-up blockers and now the recommended mode of op-
eration uses inline-frames (‘iframe’). The merchant passes the card number to
Visa or Mastercard, and gets back a URL to embed in an iframe to display to
the customer. If the customer executes the protocol successfully, the merchant
gets an authorisation code to submit to his bank.

Depending on the merchant, and the systems they've implemented, the transaction may or may not go through; I just used my non-3DS card (CapitalOne Venture Signature Visa) at a Finnish company and it went through. The "Verified by Visa" thing popped-up after I filled in the credit card details and hit the "buy" button. But the pop-up disappeared, and then it provided the "thanks" screen. So either the card acquired a no-password version of 3DS, or the vendor gave the transaction a pass even though 3DS "failed" due to lack of enrollment.

 

[Bamaman]

We carry a bank ATM card and a credit union ATM card when traveling to obtain walking around cash. Wells Fargo charges 5% and $5.00 per transaction. We use the credit union ATM primarily without the big charges.

But everything we can put on one of our two charge cards we put on them. There are some benefits that charge cards give (legally) that ATM's don't. The rights to charge backs and rental car insurance are part of it. We also get 2% rebates for future travel on one charge card. Visa and Mastercard share ownership, so they're both equal.

Nothing like having a backup for piece of mind.

 

[Sunset]

We carry a bank ATM card and a credit union ATM card when traveling to obtain walking around cash. Wells Fargo charges 5% and $5.00 per transaction. We use the credit union ATM primarily without the big charges.

But everything we can put on one of our two charge cards we put on them. There are some benefits that charge cards give (legally) that ATM's don't. The rights to charge backs and rental car insurance are part of it. We also get 2% rebates for future travel on one charge card. Visa and Mastercard share ownership, so they're both equal.

Nothing like having a backup for piece of mind.

Wow... I got a schwab checking account for the free ATM withdrawals. But mostly I use the CC.

 

[DrRoy]

Use cards that do not charge an extra % for foreign exchange.

 

[audreyh1]

Wow... I got a schwab checking account for the free ATM withdrawals. But mostly I use the CC.

BofA charged $5 plus 3% for ATM transactions overseas, which is why I got a Schwab Investor Checking and a Fidelity Cash Management account wth their fee free ATM withdrawals overseas.

 

[sengsational]

Update on 3DS (Three-Domain Secure) - Victory (finally)

As a bit of a review.... I couldn't buy an airline ticket from a European airline with Capital One Venture Visa the card is not enrolled in the 3DS "Verified by Visa" and the vendor did not have a work-around:

My recent online experience with Visa and an overseas vendor is proving to be intractable; I simply can not pay because they go through "Verified by Visa" and my US card does not participate in that program.

But another European company was less strict, and the same card worked, even though the "Verified by Visa" process was invoked. So it's dependent on what the vendor has configured / allows.


Anyway...

I got another card. This time a MasterCard, and tried it at the stubborn airline. It worked!

Using the Barclay Arrival Plus MasterCard, I got the "MasterCard Secure Code" 3DS pop-up on when buying airline tickets and I thought that I was doomed to fail again. But I was prompted to answer those kinds of questions that are on your credit report (like what county your old house is in, and how much your mortgage payment is). After answering those, the transaction went through!

Yippee! Halfway to signup bonus land!


And the paper work and web site indicate that this card will work in European kiosks, so it'll not get stuck in 'signature mode', rather it will go into chip and pin mode.

 

[OldShooter]

We have never paid attention to Visa vs Master. For travel purposes, DW and I have credit cards with different issuers. We also carry debit cards with different banks, used for ATM transactions. It has happened that one or another card does not work or, despite advance notification of travel, gets shut down by the anti-fraud software.

As has been mentioned, make sure that your card(s) do not charge foreign transaction fees. In addition my Schwab debit card reimburses all ATM fees, even international. I'm not sure how easy that feature is to find but I like it.

One more caveat: Never accept a seller's offer to charge you in dollars. That is a guaranteed way to get ripped off on the rate. Just charge in the local currency and you will get very close to the wholesale rate on the conversion.

 

[Sunset]

^^ Yes I used the Barclay Arrival Plus MasterCard in Europe and had no issues.
Be sure to set your pin number to something you can remember easily, long before you go.

 

[Sunset]

BofA charged $5 plus 3% for ATM transactions overseas, which is why I got a Schwab Investor Checking and a Fidelity Cash Management account wth their fee free ATM withdrawals overseas.

I probably was not clear, I use the Schwab account debit card for ATM withdrawals, usually in chunks of $200 -> $300 worth at once. (thanks to folks telling me here).

I used my CC for purchases in many places when not using the cash I had taken out of the ATM's.

 

[audreyh1]

As a bit of a review.... I couldn't buy an airline ticket from a European airline with Capital One Venture Visa the card is not enrolled in the 3DS "Verified by Visa" and the vendor did not have a work-around:



But another European company was less strict, and the same card worked, even though the "Verified by Visa" process was invoked. So it's dependent on what the vendor has configured / allows.


Anyway...

I got another card. This time a MasterCard, and tried it at the stubborn airline. It worked!

Using the Barclay Arrival Plus MasterCard, I got the "MasterCard Secure Code" 3DS pop-up on when buying airline tickets and I thought that I was doomed to fail again. But I was prompted to answer those kinds of questions that are on your credit report (like what county your old house is in, and how much your mortgage payment is). After answering those, the transaction went through!

Yippee! Halfway to signup bonus land!


And the paper work and web site indicate that this card will work in European kiosks, so it'll not get stuck in 'signature mode', rather it will go into chip and pin mode.

Yes. My First Tech MasterCard is a card I use a lot for travel due to the PIN priority and no foreign transaction fee, but I’ve needed the MasterCard Secure Code a couple of times to buy tickets online from overseas providers and it was sure nice to have it when needed.

In Europe I’ve noticed most places accept VISA and MasterCard.

 

[audreyh1]

I probably was not clear, I use the Schwab account debit card for ATM withdrawals, usually in chunks of $200 -> $300 worth at once. (thanks to folks telling me here).

I used my CC for purchases in many places when not using the cash I had taken out of the ATM's.

I was just explaining why I also opened a Schwab Investor Checking account.

 

[Chuckanut]

I’ve had some problems using my First Tech MasterCard overseas. It won’t pass the validation checks some reason. Its a shame since it’s my only true chip and pin card. The Costco Visa works fine.

 

[braumeister]

I’ve had some problems using my First Tech MasterCard overseas. It won’t pass the validation checks some reason. Its a shame since it’s my only true chip and pin card. The Costco Visa works fine.

That's interesting; where did it fail?

The only time I ever had a problem with it was trying to use it online from the US at a Norwegian website. Otherwise it has been good for me.

 

[audreyh1]

I’ve had some problems using my First Tech MasterCard overseas. It won’t pass the validation checks some reason. Its a shame since it’s my only true chip and pin card. The Costco Visa works fine.

I never had any problems using my First Tech Mastercard overseas and have used it extensively.

My only problem has been occasionally mistyping my PIN.