20+ Differences between American Express And Visa (Explained)

Credit, Debit, and prepaid cards have made life easier. One does not have to carry money and worry about it when accessing these cards. Two of the widely popular credit cards are American Express and Visa.

Unfortunately, people often confuse these cards with one another and use them interchangeably. The major difference between American Express and Visa is that the former is issued primarily through American Express, while the latter is issued through several banks.

Table of Contents

Comparison Between American Express And Visa

Parameter	American Express	Visa
Emergence	American Express emerged before the emergence of Visa. Traces of its origin can be found during the 1850s.	Visa emerged after the emergence of American Express. The traces of the emergence of the Visa can be found in 1858.
Founders	William Fargo, Henry Wells, and John Butterfield are the founders of American Express.	Dee Hock is the founder of Visa.
Headquarters	It is headquartered in New York, USA.	It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA.
Ownership	It is a publicly traded organization.	It is a member-owned organization.
Type of company	It is a bank as well as financial services provider company.	It is only a financial services provider company.
Type of cards	Its cards can be broadly classified into four main categories, i.e., American Express black card, American Express blue card, American Express gold card, and American Express platinum card.	Its cards can be broadly classified into three main categories, i.e., Standard Visa, Visa infinite, and Visa signature.
Issuing cards	American Express itself primarily issues American Express cards.	Visa cards are issued by several banks and financial institutions situated all across the world.
Services	It primarily issues only credit cards.	It issues all three kinds of cards, i.e., credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards.
Acceptance	Unlike Visa, these cards are not accepted in every country. They are estimated to be accepted in approximately more than 130 countries.	These cards have global usage. Thus, these are accepted in almost every country of the world.
Widely popular in	These cards are widely popular and used in a total of 23 countries. China, India, Italy, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America are some of the countries where it is widely used.	These cards are widely popular and used in a total of 123 countries. France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates are some of the countries where it is widely used.
ATM network	Due to acceptance and usage in fewer countries, its ATM network is smaller than Visa’s.	Due to global acceptance and usage in almost every country, its ATM network is greater than American Express.
Market share	The Market share of this company is smaller than the market share of Visa. Its market share is estimated to be 19.4 percent.	The Market share of this company is larger than the market share of American Express. Its market share is estimated to be 52.9 percent.
Cards in circulation	Approximately 54.9 million cards are in circulation in the USA, and 57.3 million cards are in circulation outside the USA.	Approximately 304 million cards are in circulation in the USA, and 545 million cards are in circulation outside the USA.
Interest rate and charges	These cards’ interest rates and charges are higher than Visa’s.	These cards’ interest rates and charges are lower than American Express’s.
Eligibility	In comparison with Visa, the criteria of American Express are stricter. One must have good credit scores to be eligible for an American Express card.	In comparison with American Express, the eligibility criteria for Visa is more lenient. One can be eligible for a Visa card even when his credit scores are not good.
Suitable for	Due to high-interest rates and strict eligibility criteria make it suitable for medium- and large-scale businesses.	Due to low-interest rates and lenient eligibility criteria, it is suitable for small-scale businesses and medium-scale businesses.

Major Differences Between American Express And Visa

American Express is a bank company known for issuing American Express cards. Along with issuing cards, they are also responsible for processing the payments made through the issued cards. The abbreviation for American Express is AMEX.

It is believed to have originated in the 1850s by William Fargo, John Butterfield, and Henry Wells. Right now, it is the most widely used card in a total of 23 countries, has 54.9 million cards in circulation in the United States of America (USA) and 57.3 million cards in circulation outside of the USA.

Features Of American Express

It was started in the 1850s by William Fargo, Henry Wells, and John Butterfield.

It is accepted in over 130 countries and is widely popular in 23 countries.

It has a market share of 19.4 percent.

It has almost 55 million cards in circulation in the USA and almost 57 million cards outside the USA.

It offers its services in the form of four cards: American Express black card, American Express blue card, American Express gold card, and American Express platinum card.

Key Differences: American Express

A bank is responsible for issuing American Express cards and processing payments.

American Express cards are issued primarily by American Express bank.

The traces of the origin of American Express leads us back to the 1850s.

American Express provides its services in the form of four cards: American Express blue card, American Express gold card, and American Express platinum card.

What exactly is Visa?

Unlike American Express, Visa is not a bank. Instead, it is a financial services provider. It is a network technology that is connected to various banks and financial institutions all over the world. It does not issue its cards. Instead, various other financial institutions issue Visa cards.

It was started in the 1950s by Dee Hock. It is accepted in every country worldwide and is widely popular in a total of 123 countries. It is believed to have around 204 million cards in circulation in the United States of America (USA) and around 545 million cards in circulation outside of the USA.

Features of Visa

It was started in the 1950s by Dee Hock.

It is accepted in almost every country in the world and is widely popular in a total of 123 countries.

It has a market share of 52.9 percent.

It has approximately 204 million cards in circulation in the USA and around 545 million cards in circulation outside of the USA.

Visa cards can be broadly classified into Visa Classic, Visa Gold, Visa Platinum, Visa Signature, and Visa Infinite.

Key Differences: Visa

A payment processing company whose cards are accepted globally.

Several banks issue visa cards.

The traces of the origin of the Visa leads us back to the 1950s.

Visa cards can be broadly classified into Visa Classic, Visa Gold, Visa Platinum, Visa Signature, and Visa Infinite.

The Contrast Between American Express And Visa

Emergence

American Express: American Express emerged before the emergence of Visa. It is estimated to have originated in the 1850s.

Visa: Visa emerged after the emergence of American Express. The traces of its origin lead us back to the 1950s, particularly 1958.

Founded by

American Express: William Fargo, Henry Wells, and John Butterfield are known as the founders of American Express.

Visa: Dee Hock is known as the founder of Visa.

Headquarters

American Express: American Express is headquartered in New York, United States of America.

Visa: Visa is headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States of America.

Ownership

American Express: American Express is a publicly traded company.

Visa: Visa is a member-owned company.

Type of company

American Express: American Express is a bank and financial services provider.

Visa: Visa is only a financial service provider company.

Types of cards

American Express: American Express cards can be broadly classified into American Express Black card, American Express Blue card, American Express Gold card, and American Express Platinum card.

Visa: Visa cards can be broadly classified into Visa Classic, Visa Gold, Visa Platinum, Visa Signature, and Visa Infinite.

Types of American Express cards and Visa cards

American Express

American Express Black card: The owners of an American Express black card are generally very rich people who personally receive an invitation from American Express. The credit limit for this card is up to $300,000.

American Express Blue card: This card is believed to be the easiest card to have. One needs to have a credit score equal to or greater than 670. The minimum limit of this card is $1000.

American Express Platinum card: This card is for those individuals who never receive any invitation for the black card. Its credit limit depends upon one’s income. Its annual subscription is estimated to be $695.

American Express Gold card: This card is specifically for those individuals who can not afford an annual membership worth $695. Its annual subscription is fixed at just $250. It has no credit limit, requiring people to clear their debt every month.

Visa

Visa Classic card: This is the most common card type estimated to be accepted worldwide. It is one of the best cards for traveling, dining, and shopping, with a credit limit of up to $10,000.

Visa Gold card: This card promises to provide many benefits such as travel, medical, and legal. Along with that, it also gives its users access to Visa global customer care services. It is estimated to provide a credit limit of up to $15,000.

Visa Platinum card: This card gives its users greatly increased spending power and access to thousands of great deals and offers. It provides a very high credit limit which is up to $25,000.

Visa Signature card: This card is known for providing visits to luxurious hotels to its users. This card also provides security against theft and damage. It comes with a minimum limit of $5000.

Visa Infinite card: This card is the most premium card of Visa. It is known to provide high-level rewards and benefits to its clients and also provide them VIP treatment wherever they go. Its minimum credit limit starts at $10,000.

Issuing cards

American Express: American Express cards are primarily issued by American Express itself.

Visa: Visa does not issue its own cards. Instead, its cards are issued by various banks and financial institutions situated all across the world.

Services

American Express: American Express is mainly known for its credit cards. They do not issue debit cards and prepaid cards.

Visa: Visa offers all three kinds of cards, i.e., credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards.

What are Credit, Debit, and Prepaid cards?

Credit card

A Credit card is concerned with making real-time purchases by borrowing a sum of money from the concerned bank account.

These cards are not connected to one’s bank account.

In Credit card purchases, we pay later and buy first.

Debit card

A Debit card is concerned with making real-time purchases whose payments get deducted from one’s bank account as and when the purchases happen.

These cards are connected to one’s bank account.

In Debit card purchases, we pay and buy at the same time.

Prepaid card

A Prepaid card works by adding some amount of money to it and then using the amount to make purchases.

These cards are not connected to one’s bank account.

In Prepaid cards purchases, we pay first but buy later.

Acceptance

American Express: American Express is estimated to be accepted in more than 130 countries.

Visa: Visa is accepted in almost all countries.

Widely popular in

American Express: American Express is widely popular and used in a total of 23 countries. Some of the major countries where American Express is largely used are China, India, Italy, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Visa: Visa is widely popular and used in a total of 123 countries. Some of the major countries where Visa is largely used are France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

In some of the countries where American Express is widely popular

Afghanistan
China
Hong Kong
India
Italy
Mexico
Singapore
South Africa
United Kingdom (UK)
United States of America (USA)

In some of the countries where a Visa is widely popular

Austria
France
Germany
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Japan
Malaysia
Morocco
Netherlands
New Zealand
Russia
South Korea
Spain
Turkey
United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Market share

American Express: The market share of American Express is smaller than the market share of Visa. Its market share is estimated to be 19.4 percent.

Visa: The market share of Visa is bigger than the market share of American Express. Its market share is estimated to be 52.9 percent.

Cards in circulation

American Express: American Express has 54.9 million cards in circulation in the United States of America (USA) and 57.3 million cards in circulation outside of the USA.

Visa: Visa has approximately 304 million cards in circulation in the United States of America (USA) and around 545 million cards in circulation outside of the USA.

Interest rate & charges

American Express: The interest rates and various charges are higher in American Express than in Visa.

Visa: The interest rate and various charges are lower in American Express than in American Express.

Eligibility

American Express: To be eligible for American Express, one must have good to excellent credit scores.

Visa: To be eligible for Visa, one can get it with low to average to excellent credit cards.

Suitable for

American Express: Due to strict eligibility and high-interest rate, American Express is largely suitable for medium-scale and large-scale organizations.

Visa: Due to smooth eligibility and low-interest rates, Visa is suitable for every kind of organization. Be it low-scale, medium-scale, or large-scale organizations.

ATM network

American Express: Due to its popularity in lesser countries than Visa, the ATM network of American Express is smaller than the ATM network of Visa.

Visa: Due to acceptance and popularity in more countries, the ATM network of VISA is bigger than the ATM network of American Express.

Conclusion

American Express and Visa are two of the popular financial services provider companies. However, due to several similarities between the two, these two are often confused with one another. The major difference between American Express and Visa is that the former is a company that issues its own cards.

At the same time, the latter is a company that only takes account of its transactions. Another significant difference between the two is that American Express is largely known for issuing credit cards, while Visa issues debit cards, credit cards, and prepaid cards.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. What is the difference between a Debit card and a Prepaid card?

With a Debit card, as we buy anything, the money is deducted simultaneously from our bank account. But with a prepaid card, we fill money in our prepaid account even though we are not buying anything. Instead, we use that money from our prepaid card later when we need to buy something. Another difference between a Debit card and a Prepaid card is that the former is linked to the bank account while the latter is not.

Q2. What are the different types of cards offered by American Express and Visa?

Cards offered by American Express are primarily American Express Black card, American Express Blue card, American Express Gold card, and American Express Platinum card. On the other hand, cards offered by Visa are primarily Visa Classic cards, Visa Gold cards, Visa Platinum cards, Visa Signature cards, and Visa Infinite cards.

Q3. Which company is more famous: Visa or American Express?

According to all the statistical data, it is no surprise in answering that it is Visa that is more popular. Regarding the market share, Visa’s market share is way bigger than American Express’s. The former’s market share is estimated to be 52.9 percent, while the latter’s market share is estimated to be 19.4 percent.

Speaking of cards in circulation, the former has at least 204 million cards in circulation in the USA and 545 million cards outside the USA. In contrast, the latter has at least 55 million cards in circulation in the USA and 57 million cards in circulation outside the USA.

Q4. What are some of the countries where American Express and Visa are popular?

American Express is estimated to be popular in a total of 23 countries. Some of the countries where it is popular are Afghanistan, China, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom.
Visa is estimated to be popular in a total of 123 countries. Some of the countries where it is popular are Austria, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Q5. What are the major differences between American Express and Visa?

The significant differences between American Express and Visa are as follows.
1. The former issues its own cards, whereas the latter does not. Its cards are issued by several banks and financial institutions worldwide.
2. The former is accepted in only a few countries, while the latter is accepted in almost every country.
3. The former emerged approximately 100 years before the latter emerged. The former is estimated to have emerged in the 1850s, whereas the latter is estimated to have emerged in 1958.
4. The former has a market share of 19.4 percent, and the latter has a market share of 52.9 percent.
5. The former is popular in 23 countries, while the latter is popular in 123 countries.