Which is better in terms of acceptance and useability?

Are merchants more likely to accept one over the other?

Aquila said:

Which is better in terms of acceptance and useability?

Are merchants more likely to accept one over the other?

They’re both fairly ubiquitous.

It matters if you’re going overseas. Here, you can pretty much use either/both everywhere.

Witty Rejoinder said:

Aquila said:

Which is better in terms of acceptance and useability?

Are merchants more likely to accept one over the other?

They’re both fairly ubiquitous.

I used that word in my letter about mobile phone towers.

What about for online shopping?

There is one site I want to purchase music from but they only accept Visa but all I gots is a Mastercard :-/

Which means I have to apply for a Visa if I wants to buy from them….see, they have really cheap mp3’s and awesome range too.

Aquila said:

What about for online shopping?

There is one site I want to purchase music from but they only accept Visa but all I gots is a Mastercard :-/

Which means I have to apply for a Visa if I wants to buy from them….see, they have really cheap mp3’s and awesome range too.

No. Pick up a pre-paid Visa from the post office.

I have Visa and haven’t found anywhere that doesn’t accept it.

OCDC said:

I have Visa and haven’t found anywhere that doesn’t accept it.

Even Pizza Hut in Beijing!

Divine Angel said:

Aquila said:

What about for online shopping?

There is one site I want to purchase music from but they only accept Visa but all I gots is a Mastercard :-/

Which means I have to apply for a Visa if I wants to buy from them….see, they have really cheap mp3’s and awesome range too.

No. Pick up a pre-paid Visa from the post office.

Wha!?
How does this work?
I literally just walk into a post office and pay $20, $50 and I have a Visa and then shred it once it is used up??

Aquila said:

Wha!?
How does this work?
I literally just walk into a post office and pay $20, $50 and I have a Visa and then shred it once it is used up??

You can top it up but yeah, pretty much. Your name is Valued Cardholder and it’s disposable, and in any currency.

I use my “meistercard” to make all my purchases

OCDC said:

I have Visa and haven’t found anywhere that doesn’t accept it.

even a seamstress in Thailand

Or if you talk to the bank, they can give you a VISA debit card.

I have a both MasterCard an Visa and have never had any problems using either of them anywhere, except one tollway in France, which I think was broken anyway.

I did get a couple of travellers cards to use in Europe though.

MasterCard sometimes attracts a higher transaction fee than Visa.
Visa seems to be the Gold Standard.

Divine Angel said:

Aquila said:

Wha!?
How does this work?
I literally just walk into a post office and pay $20, $50 and I have a Visa and then shred it once it is used up??

You can top it up but yeah, pretty much. Your name is Valued Cardholder and it’s disposable, and in any currency.

Wow! Thanks for the tip, this sounds like the solution to my problem, I will check it out.
Cheers DAngel

you could always buy kingy’s bitcoin instead

wookiemeister said:

I use my “meistercard” to make all my purchases

lol
Is it accepted right across the galaxy?

Aquila said:

wookiemeister said:

I use my “meistercard” to make all my purchases

lol
Is it accepted right across the galaxy?

in all the alternate universes

Ahhh they’re going to announce the winner AFTER they’ve published the 27 shortlisted finalists.

All short-listed stories will be published in the Herald from December 26 to January 25.
The winner and two runners-up will be announced in the Newcastle Herald on January 28, 2014.

Skeptic Pete said:

Ahhh they’re going to announce the winner AFTER they’ve published the 27 shortlisted finalists.

All short-listed stories will be published in the Herald from December 26 to January 25.
The winner and two runners-up will be announced in the Newcastle Herald on January 28, 2014.

Wong fred

Arts said:

Aquila said:

wookiemeister said:

I use my “meistercard” to make all my purchases

lol
Is it accepted right across the galaxy?

in all the alternate universes

lol

Teleost said:

Or if you talk to the bank, they can give you a VISA debit card.

I was considering this but wanted to avoid having yet another card.
Worth keeping in mind though

Aquila said:

Teleost said:

Or if you talk to the bank, they can give you a VISA debit card.

I was considering this but wanted to avoid having yet another card.
Worth keeping in mind though

…specifically, applying through a bank :-)
This pre-paid Visa sounds like the ticket

You just go into the post office, pick one up and put a few dollars on it. Then you go home, log into the website and put as much as you want on it in whatever currency.

The benefit is that a) you’re not using your real name on the card, b) if someone wants to defraud you, you still have insurance but they’re not going to wipe your whole account (like they could with a real credit card) and c) you can keep topping it up or shred it when you’re finished, and get a new one.

Divine Angel said:

You just go into the post office, pick one up and put a few dollars on it. Then you go home, log into the website and put as much as you want on it in whatever currency.

The benefit is that a) you’re not using your real name on the card, b) if someone wants to defraud you, you still have insurance but they’re not going to wipe your whole account (like they could with a real credit card) and c) you can keep topping it up or shred it when you’re finished, and get a new one.

Yes, they are advantageous points.
Man, this is perfect for my requirements.
I was just checking the Aussie Post website, you can choose from a “re-loadable” Visa which has a 9c transaction fee or a standard pre-paid with no transaction fee. No monthly/annual fee and I can check balance for free online. 3yr expiry

Aquila said:

Divine Angel said:

You just go into the post office, pick one up and put a few dollars on it. Then you go home, log into the website and put as much as you want on it in whatever currency.

The benefit is that a) you’re not using your real name on the card, b) if someone wants to defraud you, you still have insurance but they’re not going to wipe your whole account (like they could with a real credit card) and c) you can keep topping it up or shred it when you’re finished, and get a new one.

Yes, they are advantageous points.
Man, this is perfect for my requirements.
I was just checking the Aussie Post website, you can choose from a “re-loadable” Visa which has a 9c transaction fee or a standard pre-paid with no transaction fee. No monthly/annual fee and I can check balance for free online. 3yr expiry

yes… they make it very easy to spend money these days :)

Arts said:

Aquila said:

Divine Angel said:

You just go into the post office, pick one up and put a few dollars on it. Then you go home, log into the website and put as much as you want on it in whatever currency.

The benefit is that a) you’re not using your real name on the card, b) if someone wants to defraud you, you still have insurance but they’re not going to wipe your whole account (like they could with a real credit card) and c) you can keep topping it up or shred it when you’re finished, and get a new one.

Yes, they are advantageous points.
Man, this is perfect for my requirements.
I was just checking the Aussie Post website, you can choose from a “re-loadable” Visa which has a 9c transaction fee or a standard pre-paid with no transaction fee. No monthly/annual fee and I can check balance for free online. 3yr expiry

yes… they make it very easy to spend money these days :)

lol
Indeed.

My 2c worth. 15 years ago when traveling Europe we found it very useful to have both (I had a MC and SWMBO had a VISA) as in some places one may not work but the other would, probably due to connectivity issues. But traveling Europe earlier this year we only had MC and it worked everywhere.

> Visa v MasterCard

Definitely Mastercard. The two are equally accepted overseas and MasterCard has a very much lower interest rate.

OCDC said:

I have Visa and haven’t found anywhere that doesn’t accept it.

You know I take cash, only

mollwollfumble said:

> Visa v MasterCard

Definitely Mastercard. The two are equally accepted overseas and MasterCard has a very much lower interest rate.

Interest rates depend on the supplier rather than the card (I think), but no-one should pay credit card interest anyway, just get a loan at a sensible interest rate if you need one.

But I’ve never found anywhere that takes Visa but not MasterCard, and never been charged higher costs for MasterCard than Visa.

Amex is another matter. Their charges are criminal.

The Rev Dodgson said:

Amex is another matter. Their charges are criminal.

Amex, Diners & JCB work differently than Visa and MasterCard.

Amex, Diners & JCB each require that the merchant (i.e. the business) has their own account with them. When a purchase is made, the funds are settled directly from the cardholders account to the merchant’s account, with the card issuer taking a cut.

With Visa, MasterCard and Eftpos, the merchant has a single account with an acquirer (who provides the eftpos terminal). Funds are settled from the cardholders account to the acquirer’s account, and the acquirer then settles the funds into the merchants account.

I’m not sure why this leads to exorbitant fees on Amex, but it explains why there’s so many places that it’s not available.

(source: I work for an acquirer)

Amex and Diners are corporate cards, mostly. Designed to be paid in full each month

I wonder what happened to American Express.

I remember being on a bus in far western Queensland when some dude went right off, running up and down the aisle shouting “Mr Wong Mr Wong, I’ve lost all my travellers cheques”
Then some one asked him what type were they and he said American Express.
That’s when Karl Malden in 12A stood up and calmed everything down, he said
“That’s OK, they’ve got an office in Hong Kong”

Dropbear said:

Amex and Diners are corporate cards, mostly. Designed to be paid in full each month

I’ve noticed some small business owners have an Amex account to pay supplier charges etc, get a boat load of ‘points’ or whatever apparently. Friend owns a Liquor store and seems to go on a ‘free’ holiday every 3-6 months.

Dropbear said:

Amex and Diners are corporate cards, mostly. Designed to be paid in full each month

Diners maybe. There are lots of non-corporate Amex cards around. I’ve got two of them.

I don’t know about being designed to be paid in full each month. Any sensible person would do that with any credit card, but I’m sure the Amex shareholders would love everyone to maximise their debt every month.

The Rev Dodgson said:

Dropbear said:

Amex and Diners are corporate cards, mostly. Designed to be paid in full each month

Diners maybe. There are lots of non-corporate Amex cards around. I’ve got two of them.

I don’t know about being designed to be paid in full each month. Any sensible person would do that with any credit card, but I’m sure the Amex shareholders would love everyone to maximise their debt every month.

no idea why at all you’d want a Amex card personally.. each to their own.

Dropbear said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Dropbear said:

Amex and Diners are corporate cards, mostly. Designed to be paid in full each month

Diners maybe. There are lots of non-corporate Amex cards around. I’ve got two of them.

I don’t know about being designed to be paid in full each month. Any sensible person would do that with any credit card, but I’m sure the Amex shareholders would love everyone to maximise their debt every month.

no idea why at all you’d want a Amex card personally.. each to their own.

Because you get more FF points/$, and one of them is free and the other comes as a package with a MasterCard, so doesn’t cost me any extra either.

The Rev Dodgson said:

Because you get more FF points/$, and one of them is free and the other comes as a package with a MasterCard, so doesn’t cost me any extra either.

When I say “free”, I mean there is no annual fee to me. They charge the suppliers an arm and 1.5 legs, but if the charges are included in the prices, they are distributed over all the customers, so it doesn’t cost me any more.

The Rev Dodgson said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Because you get more FF points/$, and one of them is free and the other comes as a package with a MasterCard, so doesn’t cost me any extra either.

When I say “free”, I mean there is no annual fee to me. They charge the suppliers an arm and 1.5 legs, but if the charges are included in the prices, they are distributed over all the customers, so it doesn’t cost me any more.

many merchants seem to charge a premium for purchases on amex these days, although to be fair those are ones that run with ‘tighter’ margins..

if you’re a DJs shopper, I don’t suppose it matters.

Dropbear said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Because you get more FF points/$, and one of them is free and the other comes as a package with a MasterCard, so doesn’t cost me any extra either.

When I say “free”, I mean there is no annual fee to me. They charge the suppliers an arm and 1.5 legs, but if the charges are included in the prices, they are distributed over all the customers, so it doesn’t cost me any more.

many merchants seem to charge a premium for purchases on amex these days, although to be fair those are ones that run with ‘tighter’ margins..

if you’re a DJs shopper, I don’t suppose it matters.

Yes, I’m happy to use MasterCard or cash when shops do the sensible thing and charge customers for using Amex.

But Colesworth spread the fees over everyone, so may as well take advantage of the extra points.

People who don’t have a vehicle and are scared of flying are subsidising every body else when they go shopping, it’s not right.
I’ll tell you something for nothing, you’d better sit down.
The running dog corporations are not giving you something for nothing with frequent flyers and petrol dockets, you pay for it in your bill, you can’t actually see it but it’s there pilgrim, and what’s more pilgrim you have no say in it, it’s compulsory.

Hang on, don’t stand up yet, I’ve got something to tell you about the cheap milk you think you are getting pilgrim.

I’ve found Visa is more accepted, especially in really out of the way places like Mongolia.

I don’t do CCs at all.
I use a VISA Debit Card through my Bank Savings/Checking Account
and use PayPal for nearly every On-Line Transaction.

https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/home

It’s Super Secure and acts as a FireWall between my personal Identity,
& finances & any potentially questionable site.

Well, I bought an Aussie Post Visa gift card at 4:30pm on Monday.
Try to check balance this morning, well after the “24hr waiting period”…still not activated!

What do these knobs in their offices do all day, play monopoly or chat on FB
I’ve paid my money, I wants access to it, dammit

I had no problems with mine. It was ready to use pretty much straight away.

I’ll try again when i get home this arvo

48 hours after purchase and i still cannot use my card.
Try to check balance online and error says the 3 digit CCV code was wrong
…err, no it wasn’t, I triple checked it, oh but when I ring the 1800 number and pay them $1 to check balance….using the exact same numbers I used online it gives up the balance.
Now my card is locked due to wrong login online.

So I’m now $7 down on fees and charges and no card to use.
NOT happy Jan.

Aquila said:

48 hours after purchase and i still cannot use my card.
Try to check balance online and error says the 3 digit CCV code was wrong
…err, no it wasn’t, I triple checked it, oh but when I ring the 1800 number and pay them $1 to check balance….using the exact same numbers I used online it gives up the balance.
Now my card is locked due to wrong login online.

So I’m now $7 down on fees and charges and no card to use.
NOT happy Jan.

Yea, get a credit card next time, from like, a bank or something…

poikilotherm said:

Aquila said:

48 hours after purchase and i still cannot use my card.
Try to check balance online and error says the 3 digit CCV code was wrong
…err, no it wasn’t, I triple checked it, oh but when I ring the 1800 number and pay them $1 to check balance….using the exact same numbers I used online it gives up the balance.
Now my card is locked due to wrong login online.

So I’m now $7 down on fees and charges and no card to use.
NOT happy Jan.

Yea, get a credit card next time, from like, a bank or something…

Yeah, well, I already have a MasterCard and a Debit Card, I don’t want a second credit card.
The reason for this “Visa” card requirement is due to a “specific” website I wish to purchase from who don’t accept MasterCard but DO accept Visa.
The specific website help service have also advised they accept Visa Gift Cards

My recently purchased Australia Post Visa Gift Card is now “locked” and not useable because the Australia Post website won’t accept the 3 digit CCV code from my card, stating some kind of error, yet for a $1 fee I was able to check card balance using that same code via phone, so in my opinion there is a problem with the Aussie Post website or the card.

I WILL be requesting a refund or a replacement card.