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
The VISA classic card has been marketed as a simple, no nonsense credit card. The card, as its name suggests, is in fact the standard VISA credit card that has been repackaged as a card that offers the basic services that a price conscious consumer would want from a credit card. As VISA credit cards are issued by individual banks and credit unions, the VISA classic card is packaged in different ways and not all the financial institutions that offer the card stress the fact that it is cheap. In the case of some of the smaller institutions the VISA Classic card is the only credit card that they offer.
The great advantage of any VISA card is that it is accepted at a large number of locations around the world, and this goes for the VISA classic card as much as for all the more expensive prestige cards. VISA is the largest credit card provider in the world and the VISA classic card is accepted at more than 29 million locations around the world. If the card is used abroad there is usually a fee for overseas use, but the fact that a good is priced in a foreign currency is no longer an obstacle to buying it.
There are some services that are offered by the VISA classic card, even with the lower interest rates and annual fees. The Zero Liability guarantee means that unauthorised uses of the card are not charged to the card holder as long as the issuing bank is told in a timely manner and the card holder did not co-operate in making the transaction possible. VISA Entertainment is the entertainment benefits programme that means that card holders are able to book seats for concerts and theatrical performances in advance. This is a subscription based service.
