VISA just like Discovery, American Express and Mastercard, is an organization that enables global money transfers through their encrypted networks, facilities and their protocols. They fundamentally are the same thing, because any properties a VISA card might have, is determined by the issuer. (Also, all these cards are usually available as debit cards, as well)
So basically there is no difference either you make VISA or Mastercard your credit card of choice. Banks, third party issuers, merchants and many other organizations have thousands of contracts to enable various schemas you are able to operate with your card, hence the business the card issuer makes with Visa Inc. or Mastercard Inc. doesn’t impact you as a cardholder at all.
Choosing either a low interest Visa over a low interest Mastercard, is a matter of evaluating what are Your national possibilities with card issuers at hand, not a matter of distinguishing differences between these multinational global money transfer organizations.
A low interest VISA card is invaluable tool to have at hand with the proper attitude, but a dangerous self-inflicted weapon if mistreated.
Low interest VISA card, is basically a marketing tool to attract new clients to the credit world. It is not to understood, that low interest VISA cards are automatically better than standard Visa cards. It depends on the way You plan to use the card, your eligibility for a specific card, your behavior and possibilities to pay for it.
A low interest VISA means that the card will have a temporary period, where the interest you have to pay back next month (if not indicated otherwise) is from 0%-12%.
The credit card marketing basically works like this: the bank has analytics who day in and day out look for new credit card subscription plans and their combinations – for the chance that they might meet exactly your requirements. But they are smart, and if they put something in, they usually take something out, or align harsh conditions for the cardholder which he has to follow.
Issuers who offer VISA offer an array of different cards each with its benefits and complementing drawbacks. Benefits include 6-18 month introductory no interest or low interest period, and a complementing drawback would be that you have to be a cardholder for a minimum of 24 months.
There are 3 things to look out for when choosing a low interest VISA:
1. Interest rate and APR. That means to look out how much will you have to pay the bank for borrowing. There are different rates, for example, for withdrawing cash from an ATM and paying a charge to a merchant. As well, rates can vary depending on how close you are to your credit limit, what is your Consumer Credit Risk coefficient, and other parameters. Always ask about everything before signing anything.
2. Transaction fees and commissions. This means that although you don’t pay interest, you do pay for the transactions. Banks do this, because as Visa Inc. process the money, they subtract a percentage of the transfer to themselves and bank wants to cover that (but the transaction fee will always be larger than what Visa Inc. charged for using their network. This can significantly increase the cost of a credit card, So some countries have passed legislation that issuers have to clearly state what is the APR (annual percentage rate) – that is the somewhat real interest you pay on average including all the commissions and obligatory fees.
3. And penalty costs. Banks are quacks. They are afraid of you not giving back the money you borrowed, but simultaneously they are just waiting for the moment when you slip. And when you do slip (don’t pay interest in time, don’t pay full interest, get close to your credit limit or borrow on overdraft, etc.) – benefit programs don’t work, instead of no interest you have to pay more than if you were just on a standard VISA card, you are charged extra commission just because you didn’t commit to the contractual conditions And – the interest grows cumulatively on every month.
Of course there are banks in the world, for example, in the UK, Canada and USA, which offer completely friendly credit card for eligible clients, whose target is to stimulate the overall business and cash flow. Some banks use it as a marketing tool, to accommodate new clients to credits as a handy financial tool, because the introductory period won’t last forever.
But the positive side is that along with ways banks deducts money, there are ways bank comes forward in reducing the costs you associate with a credit card usage. That is the benefits and perks – which in our days is a masterfully utilized ground for financial marketing, including cash back programs, air travel miles points, discounts, etc.