What Is A Credit Card Processing Network? 

The airline credit cards reviewed on this site belong to one of the four major credit card networks: American Express, Discover, Mastercard, or Visa. Referred to as processing networks or payment networks, these institutions play an integral role in the millions of electronic transactions that occur every day have become synonymous in the world of credit cards. Processing networks are intermediaries responsible for facilitating the interaction between merchants and banks when a purchase – credit or debit – is made. 

There are several players in every transaction and the card type is responsible for making sure everyone gets the money they are due. Here’s how it works: every time your credit card is swiped one of those networks has verified that your card is valid, contacted the financial institution to deposit the money to the merchant, and reported the transaction to the credit card issuer to add the charge to your monthly statement. 

The Difference Between Processing Network and Card Issuer

Whereas card type networks manage the actual movement of money between merchant and bank, the card issuer is the institution responsible for offering the actual credit card sitting in your wallet. Card issuers determine all of the specifics of a credit card, from the perks to the interest rates and other fees. For example, if your credit card offers complimentary purchase protections, that’s thanks to the card issuer for determining that your card should have it – not the payment network. There are two exceptions to this classification as American Express and Discover are both payment networks and card issuers. This means that these lenders process their own credit card transactions, reducing the number of touch points in an electronic transaction.

Banks are common card issuers with Bank of America, Barclays, Chase, and Wells Fargo being some of the largest in the United States. Other popular card issues that aren’t banks are Citigroup, Discover, and Capital One. Still unsure which is which?  In many instances, the name of your credit card includes the financial entity associated and provides an easy way to determine your card issuer. The issuer for the Chase Sapphire Preferred is (you guessed it) Chase. Finding out which credit card payment network a credit card has is just as simple. Simply look for a logo on the corner of the card (typically the bottom right).

Does The Processing Network Matter?

In terms of rewards or determining which airline card is a better value: no, the processing network does not matter. Since credit issuers, not processing networks, determine the benefits and bonuses of each credit card, the payment network itself makes very little difference. The only difference worth noting is the acceptance of cards. While all four credit card networks can be used worldwide, some are more widely accepted than others. Visa and Mastercard are accepted virtually everywhere, both domestically and internationally.

Outside of the United States, Discover and American Express have fewer partnered merchants and might not make the best airline card for the frequent internationally traveler. Discover has since partnered with several international financial institutions to leverage its limited reach – but coverage is still absent within entire countries. American Express has the fewest partnered merchants of the main four networks (due to their high transaction fees) both internationally and domestically, causing them to have the most limited reach of all the networks.

Search Credit Cards by Processing Network

AirlineCards.com has reviews of cards from the four major card networks across the world, explore airline credit cards from every card network and card type.

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