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The first thing to do when dealing with a lost Visa credit card is freeze the card through the card issuer’s website or mobile app, if possible. Next, report the lost Visa credit card to the bank or credit union that issued the card, and request a replacement. It usually takes 3-7 business days to get a replacement Visa card, but some issuers may offer expedited shipping, even for free.… read full answer

After that, take a breath. All Visa credit cards have $0 liability guarantees for unauthorized transactions, so you won’t have to pay for any fraudulent charges made with your card before you managed to freeze or report it. Once you report your card as lost, the card issuer will cancel that card number to permanently invalidate the Visa. They will then send you a replacement card. If you need the card within a few days, request expedited shipping when you speak with your card issuer. Just be sure to ask about any fees that may be assessed for rush delivery.

You can also report your lost card to Visa, but it’s not necessary. Visa will make sure that your card issuer is informed and will help you get a replacement card, but this can all be done faster by calling your card issuer directly. However, Visa can also arrange for emergency cash to be available at a bank near you within hours of your bank’s approval. This service should only be used a last resort, but it can come in handy if you’re stuck in a foreign country without a credit card.

Finally, activate your new Visa once it arrives. You can begin using your card immediately after activation. Since the former card number will no longer work, make sure to update your billing information for all recurring payments, so that you don’t get charged late fees.

The biggest benefits of credit cards are interest-free financing, $0 fraud liability, and the opportunity for credit building. There are also so-called “secondary credit card benefits,” which may include things like price protection, rental car insurance, and extended warranty protection. In other words, the right credit card can give a cardholder much more than simple spending power.… read full answer

Some people find it easier to avoid credit cards out of fear of making credit mistakes. But the more you learn about how credit works, the more you’ll see how credit cards are tools that can help you save money and gain access to great things, as well as make life all-around easier. Here are nine of the best credit card benefits to get you thinking.

Here are the 9 top benefits of credit cards:

1. Built-In Card Network Perks
   
   The four major card networks – Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express – offer baked-in benefits that many cardholders simply aren’t aware of. Visa and Mastercard have different tiers of benefits for their cards. Visa’s tiers include Visa Platinum, Visa Signature, and Visa Infinite benefits. Mastercard offers Mastercard Platinum, Mastercard World, and Mastercard World Elite benefit tiers.
   
   Here are the card networks’ benefits at the standard level, but keep in mind that more benefits come with higher tiers.
   
   Visa: Emergency card replacement and cash disbursement, rental car insurance, $0 fraud liability, and roadside dispatch.
   
   Mastercard: $0 fraud liability, purchase protection, discounts on car rentals and hotels.
   
   Discover: $0 fraud liability, free overnight card delivery, free credit score, year-end summary, the ability to freeze your credit cards, Social Security number monitoring and new accounts alerts, and the option to get cash over your transaction total during checkout.
   
   American Express: Extended warranty, purchase protection, return protection, baggage insurance, rental car insurance, Global Assist, roadside assistance, trip delay insurance, and trip cancellation/interruption insurance.
2. Fraud Protection
   
   Credit cards are the safest method of payment when shopping. All major card networks – Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express – offer zero fraud liability, so you can shop knowing you won’t have to pay a single dollar for fraudulent charges. And if you lose your card, it’s easy to cancel or lock it by calling the card issuer. When it comes to theft, stolen cash and debit cards have a much more difficult process, and it may take a long time to track and recover the missing money.
3. Opportunity for Credit Building
   
   Building good credit is essential to opening doors financially. Having better credit demonstrates to lenders that you are a low risk investment, which, in turn, provides access to better interest rates and loan terms. Having good credit can help you get an apartment lease, or even a job, too. If you don’t intend to finance anything, you will still benefit from having good credit available as a backup for when you need it.
4. Peace-of-Mind for Potential Emergency Expenses
   
   Credit cards are great for emergencies when funds are short. They can essentially act as a small loan for when you’re caught off-guard by a car breakdown, emergency trip to the vet, or whatever life throws your way. You can pay a credit card balance on your own timeline as long as you make the monthly minimum payment.
5. Ongoing Rewards & Initial Bonuses
   
   Initial bonuses are a popular perk of signing up for a credit card. You can get a set amount of cash back, miles, or points for spending a certain amount within the first few months of opening certain credit card accounts. Many credit cards also reward users with cash back, points, or miles for every purchase they make.
   
   Cash back is typically applied as a statement credit or can sometimes be redeemed as a paper check or bank account deposit. Points can be used for cash back, merchandise, experiences, gift cards, or travel. Miles can be limited to just flights on certain airlines, at least for the best redemption value. Or, they can cover a range of travel purchases like hotels, cabs, cruises and more. For all the purchases you’re making anyway, there’s no reason to not earn a little extra back.
6. Potential for a Flexible Payment Schedule
   
   Being able to carry a balance for a week or two allows for flexible budgeting. You can use credit cards to pay for everyday purchases, or even bigger bills, which lets you hang on to your cash longer. Many credit cards even let you pick your payment due date, which can be great if you sometimes need wiggle room with monthly expenses.
7. Free Credit Score Access
   
   Practically every credit card offers free access to your credit score now. Though the free credit score services offered by card issuers aren’t updated as often as WalletHub’s free credit score – and they don’t give personalized credit advice – it’s still nice to see your credit score when you log into your credit card account.
8. Possibility of Interest-Free Financing
   
   When you get a new credit card with a 0% APR period, you have the freedom to make large purchases and not worry about interest for a while. The average intro APR lasts roughly 12 months, ranging from 6 to 21 months. Balance transfers are also an option with most credit cards. This allows you to pay down debt faster by transferring at least some of what you owe to a credit card with a better interest rate.
9. International Acceptance
   
   It’s a no-brainer to take a credit card on an international trip. Credit cards are accepted everywhere. And when your credit card has no foreign transaction fee, you’ll save up to 9% in fees and currency exchange costs. Credit cards are also a good way to keep your funds safe, and they’re a solid backup source of money if something goes wrong. Plus, hotels and car rental agencies often require temporary holds on funds as deposits, so using a credit card for these expenses leaves your real money available when you need it.

Bottom Line

Credit cards open the door to convenience and savings, especially as you build better and better credit. The flipside is that if you’re not careful with your finances, it’s easy to get into debt and pay extra with interest. So, again, credit is a tool that can make your life easier, but your best bet to succeed with credit cards is to learn how they work and how to use them responsibly.

The best credit card network is a tie between Visa and Mastercard, when judged based on network size and merchant acceptance, both domestically and worldwide. Secondary benefits are another point of judgment, in which Visa and Amex win. But when judged on foreign transaction fees, Discover wins. So, which card network is best depends on which of these qualities benefits you most.… read full answer

Acceptance

Mastercard has a slight acceptance advantage internationally. It’s accepted in 210+ countries and territories compared to Visa’s 200+ countries and territories. But people spend more money on Visa credit cards than cards from other networks, and there are more Visa cards in the world than the others, by far. Discover and American Express, on the other hand, are less accepted worldwide and have less market share overall than Mastercard or Visa.

Foreign Transaction Fees

When it comes to foreign transaction fees, both networks and card issuers matter because these fees happen in two stages. First, the card network may charge a fee for transactions made in a foreign country, whether you make the purchase physically abroad or from a foreign merchant online. After that, the credit card issuer – Chase, Capital One, and the like – can decide to charge a fee on top of that, or to absorb the network’s fee so their customers don’t have to worry about it. The fee (or lack of it) will depend on which credit card you have.

Discover, as both a card issuer and a card network, did away with foreign transaction fees on all of its cards. Some American Express cards have foreign fees; some don’t. Visa and Mastercard both charge a 1% fee for all foreign transactions, but they don’t always make it to the cardholder’s billing statement – Capital One, for example, absorbs any card network’s foreign fee on all its cards. So you can still get Visa and Mastercard credit cards without foreign fees.

Secondary Benefits

Secondary card benefits are another collaboration between card networks and card issuers. Secondary benefits – such as rental car insurance, price protection, and travel insurance, for example – are determined by the card network. But the card issuer (Chase, Citi, etc.) can decide which credit cards get those benefits and which don’t. Visa and Amex offer very similar secondary benefits, such as price protection, extended warranty, rental car insurance, and travel insurance. Mastercard’s benefits are similar, but substantial travel insurance nor rental car insurance is included. Discover stripped many travel and consumer benefits from its cards, leaving only security-focused benefits.

Fraud Protection

All four credit card networks have a $0 fraud liability policy in place for unauthorized transactions. But it depends on what kind of fraud is committed. Consumers aren’t liable for ATM transaction fraud with Discover and Amex cards. Comparatively, Mastercard defaults to Federal law with ATM transaction fraud, while Visa shifts the liability to the card issuer. All four networks treat all other types of fraudulent transactions the same: you aren’t liable for any amount.

Overall, Mastercard and Visa are more widely-accepted across the globe. But if a 0% chance of foreign transaction fees is what you’re after, it may be worth it to go with a Discover card. Visa and American Express are the winners for secondary benefits, though.

All four networks have their high points. Which is best, however, depends on which of these perks serves you best.