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Comment by user5994461 | Hacker News Reader

What's the point of an Amex or Sapphire compared to a regular VISA or mastercard?

Disclaimer: I am european, Amex doesn't exist here and you can't pay anything anywhere with that. Never heard about Sapphire before today. Maybe you guys don't have VISA and mastercard on your side of the Atlantic?

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Visa and Mastercard are the two biggest card associations in the US (American Express is another card association).

Credit cards are usually issued by a card issuer (bank) and are co-branded with one of the card associations. For example, the Sapphire card is a particular credit card issued by Chase Bank, but is a Visa card.

American Express (Amex) is a little bit weird in that they act as both the issuer and the association for many of their cards. (They are less widely accepted than Visa or Mastercard).

See this American guide to choosing a credit card[1]. Factors that people consider include interest rate, amount of signing bonus, rewards (such as a percentage cash back on each purchase or a percentage of frequent flyer miles on each purchase), yearly fee to use the card, and other services that come with membership such as warranty protection, concierge, discounts, and reserved tickets for events.

What cards are available to a person depends highly on their credit history and income.

[1]https://www.creditkarma.com/article/choose_a_credit_card

Does this have something to do with the credit card vs debit card thing?

Because credit cards barely exist on that side of the Atlantic.

In the US, debit cards are ATM cards tied to a bank account that can also be used at a merchant; when the merchant charges the card, money is deducted directly from the bank account. Debit cards usually have no rewards or bonuses associated with them.

Credit cards, on the other hand, are connected to a revolving line of credit. When a merchant charges the card, the issuer is essentially loaning the amount of the charge to the cardholder. (With most credit cards, interest only starts accruing a month after the charge; so people who pay their credit card bills in full are not paying interest.)

In the US, credit cards were introduced as a convenient alternative to checks or cash before debit cards existed. Because of cultural momentum, rewards, and fraud protection, they are as widely used as debit cards, if not more so.

To throw in a bit of confusion, most US debit cards can also be run on credit card networks (mostly Visa or Mastercard, though when I worked as a cashier I saw a few debit cards that used Discover or Amex). The cash is still directly debited from your bank account, but that lets you use the card at places that do accept credit cards but don't belong to any of the dozen different debit networks (STAR, Pulse, CO-OP, etc.). This is also why most US-based online shops prefer credit cards since it's assumed that even if you don't have an actual credit card you have a debit card that can be run as one.

Amex Platinum is a charge card, you must pay them [for the most part] within 30 days, which is quite different from most American credit cards. Not a debit card, but close, outside of pay-over-time benefits.

Amex certainly exists in Europe, but I am not sure if they are active in all European countries. I use the Amex card from KLM myself: https://www.klm.com/travel/nl_en/flying_blue/flying_blue_ame...

Amex vs Visa/MC - Amex had historically good flight/miles tie-ins (not as good these days), purchase coverage (returns, car insurance, etc), and concierge service for higher level cards. Odd as it sounds, good reporting on billing, and a requirement to pay off at the end of each month, made it appealing to some businesses for corporate credit cards.

Yes, we have both Visa and MC over here.

I've used my American Express card extensively in Europe and Asia. It's not 100%, but it's not 100% here in America either.

Visa and MC are probably 75% of all cards in the US. Anyone takes them. Discover and Amex are less giant.

Amex exists in Europe. Maybe not in your country (which you probably mean by "here."). Which country is it?

Either way, I get very good customer support from American Express. Also way higher credit limit and points. My other card is a Citibank card. I never use it because I despise citibank.

The Sapphire Reserve is a Visa credit card issued by Chase. It's not a new card network.

What's the difference then?

Think of Amex like the iPhone/iOS. Only Apple makes it, they deliver the hardware and the software.

Visa/MC are Android. Samsung (Chase), LG (Citi), HTC (BofA) are the hardware makers (card issuers) but they're all delivering the same Android (Visa/MC)

I don't have an analogy for Discover...

  > I don't have an analogy for Discover...

Maybe Blackberry or Windows Phone?

chuckle

Each whack at launching another Windows phone feels like trying to resurrect Diner's Club.

Ha. I'd thought of those, but Discover is actually successful, even if they're niche. :)

Discover is the flip phone in this analogy - people give you a certain look when you use it in public.

Perks. More points, lounge access, concierge programs, insurance.

Most of the chase cards are branded visa and MasterCard credit cards

Never had any problem using AmEx in Europe, at least at hotels.

The sapphire cards are visa cards

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