22. | The deck of cards

As I prepare for my finances, I’m starting to feel like I’m going to need a card deck holder. I currently have three active bank cards, a debit Mastercard, a credit Mastercard, and a Revolut Mastercard. My Wise card, which I ordered the other day, will arrive in nine days. They’re all traditional, non-embossed cards. They’re all standard Mastercards. Below, I’ll summarize what I’ve learned about bank cards, so you can get an idea of ​​why I’m afraid I’ll end up with a deck of cards.

Before going to the bank, I definitely wanted to prepare myself for the spiritual life of bank cards. During the preliminary searches, I noted down three pages, with the help of which I started tonight.

I have read about three types of cards so far:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• American Express

At this moment – not knowing the details of the future – I accept the opinion that these are exactly the types I will need in order to have at least one card in my hand in every corner of the world that I can use in a given situation.

So let’s look at the 3 types!

Visa

I started my acquaintance here: Visa card benefits: What you should know

The random choice was good, wise.com not only provides information on the subject of Visa cards, but also offers a wide range of knowledge related to them.

First, we will group the cards. There are debit cards and there are credit cards. Each type is made into embossed and traditional cards. We can use the embossed card where there is no possibility of POS payment, that is, the payment is made using the old card swipe (imprinter) method. Most Visa cards have a chip, and are supported by the Google and Apple pay systems. There are also electronic cards.

What is Visa good for?

Visa is the most widely used card type worldwide for both debit and credit cards. Visa card transactions are available in 220 countries, at more than 44 million terminals worldwide. This means that if I have such a card, there is a good chance that I will be able to pay with it in many places. There are also all kinds of membership and rebate benefits, but these are not interesting to me for now.

What should I look out for with a Visa card?

The number of questions listed in the post titled Bank Job is already starting to grow. It is worth checking whether the card can be used abroad? What about the EU and non-EU use? It is worth noting in advance with the bank where I want to use the cards in the other half of the world, so that the security system does not block it after the first use.

On this site I found a Visa ATM search page where I can check right now where I can find a Visa ATM in Bangkok.

Here I was also introduced to the concepts of dynamic currency conversion and double conversion. I was able to read about cash withdrawals abroad. I received a direct link to the reference to the mid-market exchange rate.

As is usual, I also checked the links of the linked pages, which is how I came across the Wise system exchange rate monitor, where I can see nice graphs of the daily exchange rate of each currency, but what was even more exciting was that I was able to sign up for a daily exchange rate monitor, which sends an email every day about the USD and EUR exchange rates for that day.

I found a money transfer calculator, where I can clearly see the costs incurred when converting. I was forced to familiarize myself with the concept of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), as well as the essence of the Swift method.

Mastercard

I already have three Mastercard cards, so I don’t need to worry about purchasing this type now. I’ll find out at the bank how I can use them abroad.

Coincidence brought me to this site so that I could deepen my knowledge of Mastercard cards.

Here too, I read the explanation of credit and debit cards. However, here I learned that there are other types, such as prepaid cards, which can be used up with the amount loaded in advance, or charge cards, for which the money spent during the month must be fully repaid at the end of each month. (In the case of credit cards, only a minimum amount is required.)

The site also gave some information about blocking the card and its costs, but I couldn’t find anything else here.

So I looked for other information sites. I read some slightly shocking information on Wikipedia:

MasterCard Incorporated is an American financial company that issues bank cards. Its biggest rival is also the American Visa, but American Express and Discover, as well as the Japanese JCB and the Chinese UnionPay (the world’s largest bank card issuing company) are also rivals. It also has subsidiaries under the names Maestro, Cirrus, Mondex and Masterpass.

I hope I won’t get advice to have a Discover, JCB, UnionPay, etc. card too!

Interestingly, Google lists the Mastercard pages of Hungarian banks, but you can’t really find any meaningful information about the type itself. So after a slightly more complex search, I ended up on the Wise page again. From now on, I’ll quote from them.

Visa vs Mastercard: What’s the difference between the two?

Finally, we have the answer:

Both providers are present in more than 200 countries and have nearly 40 million acceptance locations each. However, based on purchase transactions, Visa has a share of $2 trillion worldwide, while Mastercard has $1 trillion.

The main difference between Visa and Mastercard lies in the currency they use. Visa uses US dollars, while Mastercard uses euros in the eurozone and dollars outside of it.

Visa or Mastercard abroad: which one should you use?

There is no clear answer to which one to use abroad. Your personal preferences, the destination, and your budget can all influence your choice.

Both Visa and Mastercard are widely accepted, but some countries or regions may have more popular or widespread use of one than the other. In general, Visa is more common in the US, while Mastercard is more common in Europe, but this is not always the case.

It is worth researching which cards are accepted in your planned destination.

American Express

It seems that I can’t get such a card as a private individual here. This was the first piece of information I found.

While searching for the question “what is it good for?” I found this:

American Express is a bank card company based in the United States of America, but it not only issues bank cards, but is also a travel company. In fact, the bank card was born from the travel business, since international vacations and business trips departing from the United States required a means of payment that could also be used abroad.

Although American Express has a significant bank card history, it is a less widespread brand globally compared to Mastercard and Visa card companies.

In Hungary, K&H Bank and then OTP Bank initially issued American Express cards, but they have now ceased to exist. American Express is present in Hungary and its cards can be applied for, but only to corporate clients.

With this, I will put the bank card question on hold for a while. I have two of the three recommended brands. I will look at the others later.