VISA credit cards are the largest credit card processing company in the world, with almost 30 million outlets in almost every single country that accept VISA cards.

VISA started as the Bank of America card in the 1950s.  In America from the 1920s consumer credit was becoming more common and in California it was even becoming quite common to have revolving lines of credit with a number of shops.  A number of banks decided that it would be a good idea to get into this market and a number of attempts were made. (more…)

The VISA infinite credit card is an invitation only prestige card.  It is sometimes offered by a couple of private banks such as St. George’s private banking.

VISA infinite is designed to be the pinnacle offering for VISA and is aimed at the top 1% of the VISA card holder base.  It is seen as a “beyond platinum” card.  Due to its design it is sometimes called a “black card”. (more…)

The VISA Gold card is a prestige credit card supplied by VISA and offered financial institutions such as banks.

A prestige card is aimed credit card borrowers who either earn more than average, have a high net worth or who spend a large amount on a credit card.  Prestige cards offer generous rewards in return for higher interest rates and annual fees.  Gold cards were the first prestige cards that were offered, but after a while prestige cards such as platinum cards and silver cards started to be offered.  Silver cards were offered as a halfway house between standard cards and gold cards while platinum cards were offered as an even more exclusive from of the gold card. (more…)

The VISA platinum card is a prestige credit card for VISA card holders.  It is offered by banks and other financial institutions as a prestige credit card.

Prestige cards are credit cards that are aimed at the higher end of the credit card market.  These credit cards are usually available only to credit card holders who are either a high earner, who have a high amount of net assets or who have a high amount of spending on their card.  They offer a large set of rewards and tend to have higher fees and interest rates.  The first prestige cards were known as gold cards but after a while the gold cards became devalued as they were offered more commonly and platinum cards started to be offered to differentiate the offerings from the now less valuable gold cards. (more…)

The VISA Classic card is the original VISA credit card.  It is now often offered as a cheaper no frills card.  It is the most popular VISA card in Australia.

In recent years there has been a growth of credit cards that offer a wider range of services for a higher annual fee and interest rates.  These have often been called “prestige cards” and offer things such as free travel insurance, tailored rewards programmes and concierge services.  These are often called gold, silver and platinum cards.  However, there has been a growth in the market for cheaper credit cards that may not offer as many services but in return cost less (more…)