If you’re looking for a secured credit card, you might be wondering if you should pick Visa over Mastercard. Or vice versa.
Fortunately, you can’t really go wrong with either choice as Mastercard and Visa pretty much offer the same secured card benefits. Instead, compare your options based on the features and perks offered by the issuer.
Look for these secured credit card benefits
Generally, secured cards from Visa and Mastercard offer similar benefits. More important is what you’ll get from your issuer.
When considering a secured card, look at these factors:
Annual fee. You’ll find great secured cards with no annual fees.
Reporting to major credit bureaus. A secured card can help you build credit, but only if your provider reports your payment history to the major credit bureaus. Ask if your provider reports to TransUnion, Equifax and Experian.
Potential to graduate to an unsecured card. Some card providers will return your security deposit after a specified period of time. This effectively makes your secured card an unsecured card.
Acceptance
Visa and Mastercard are the most widely accepted credit cards in the world. Here’s the bottom line for Visas and Mastercards: If a merchant accepts one, they’ll most likely accept the other. So regardless of which secured card you choose, you can probably use it anywhere credit cards are accepted.
Credit card networks vs. issuers: What’s the difference?
Credit card networks are companies that dictate the usage of credit cards between merchants and card users — think Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express. Networks set fees that allow merchants to accept their product.
Credit card issuers are companies who lend credit out to the consumers. For example, you have a Visa credit card that is issued by Chase bank — in this case, Chase is the issuer and Visa is the network. However, American Express and Discover are both networks and issuers.
Chances of approval
It isn’t easier to get approved for one over the other. Instead, it’s more important to consider your card issuer. For example, some issuers have tight approval standards, while other issuers accept consumers with poor credit.
If you’re worried that you could be denied for a card, look for a secured card that doesn’t require a credit check.
Features
Depending on which product you’re approved for, Visa and Mastercard may offer:
Zero liability for unauthorized purchases. If your card is used without your knowledge, you won’t pay anything.
Cardholder assistance. Call a 24/7 hotline whenever you have problems with your card.
A Visa or Mastercard may come with additional features, especially if it’s a Platinum card:
Auto rental collision damage waiver. An auto rental collision damage waiver (CDW) will reimburse you if your rental car is damaged or stolen.
Roadside assistance. If you have problems with your vehicle while you’re on the road, give a call to the roadside assistance hotline. Services include towing, tire changes, jump-starts, lockout service, fuel delivery and more.
Extended warranties. In many cases, your item’s original warranty is doubled if you’ve purchased it with your card.
To see if a card offers these benefits, check with your issuer. Cards may offer different perks depending on issuers’ agreements with the card networks.
Pick a secured credit card based on the features offered by the issuer if you want the best approach to selecting a secured credit card. While Visa and Mastercard occasionally provide additional benefits on their cards, these are typically restricted to their unsecured offerings.
Neither network charges a price for a consumer to use its product. The prices — for example, annual fees — are set directly by the issuer of the credit card.
No. However, you must pay for your rental with your card and be the primary driver of the rental car. In most cases, you need to decline the rental company’s insurance policy.
This isn’t up to Visa or Mastercard, but your issuer. Still, getting your deposit back after you close your card is standard practice across the industry.
Steven Dashiell is an editor for Bankrate and CreditCards.com and formally a personal finance writer at Finder, specializing in credit cards, banking and growing and protecting your income. His insights and expertise has been featured on Nasdaq, U.S. News & World Report, Time, CBS, ABC, Fox Business, Lifehacker and Martha Stewart Living, among other top media. Steve holds a BA in English from University of Maryland, Baltimore County, minoring in composition and rhetoric. In his spare time Steve nerds out on birds, paints and plays a whole lot of Street Fighter. See full bio
Steven's expertise
Steven has written 65 Finder guides across topics including:
A secured credit card requires a security deposit, typically a cash deposit. Other than the deposit, secured credit cards work the same as regular credit cards.
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