What’s the point of Visa and Mastercard if it’s always from a bank? AmEx cards are produced and processed by them only and not any other processor, so why can’t banks make credit cards without Visa or Mastercard, or vice-versa?

Question

What’s the point of Visa and Mastercard if it’s always from a bank? AmEx cards are produced and processed by them only and not any other processor, so why can’t banks make credit cards without Visa or Mastercard, or vice-versa?

In: 942

Answer 1

Banks are where you keep your money. They are like the train station. You can load or unload the train with cash, but that doesn’t mean the cash went from Bank A to Bank B.

Visa/MC are the tracks. The train was already loaded (by the bank) and now the money (train) is on the track.

It tracels to the correct station (the bank) thanks to Visa and MasterCard, and then that bank unloads it again.

Visa and MasterCard move the money between the banks, the banks do everything else.