What's the difference between overseas credit card UnionPay and VISA?

VISA is a credit card brand operated and managed by Visa International in San Francisco, California, USA. Simply put, it is the international credit card alliance. They set up a global credit card consumption alliance. After domestic banks cooperate with them, credit cards issued by domestic banks can be swiped within the alliance.

"UnionPay" identification card is a bank card with "UnionPay" logo issued by domestic card-issuing financial institutions with the approval of the People's Bank of China. It adopts unified business norms and technical standards and can be used across banks and regions. In other words, UnionPay is managed by the People's Bank of China.

2. Different currency conversion

If you choose the VISA channel, then VISA will convert the local currency into dollars; If you choose the UnionPay channel, UnionPay will convert the local currency into RMB.

3. Different currency conversion fees

VISA card can directly consume US dollars, and UnionPay can directly consume RMB. If it is consumed in currencies other than US dollars and RMB, such as Japanese yen, Australian dollar and Korean won. VISA, MASTERCARD, UnionPay and other card organizations must first carry out currency conversion, and in this process, the so-called "money counting fee", that is, currency conversion fee, is generated.

At present, UnionPay does not charge this part of the handling fee, while VISA and MasterCard usually charge a handling fee of 1-2%. Of course, if you use VISA or MASTERCARD in the United States, you don't need to go through any currency conversion because you trade directly in dollars, so you don't need to charge.

4. Inquiries about different exchange rates

VISA's exchange rate quotation can be inquired on its English website, while UnionPay can only inquire by calling the consultation hotline, and there are 9 kinds of currency quotations that can be inquired.

5. Currency negotiation has different advantages.

Intuitively speaking, the less the number of currency conversions, the less the exchange rate loss, because the exchange difference (that is, the difference between the buying price and the selling price) needs to be involved in the conversion process. In contrast, VISA, as one of the largest credit card organizations in the world, has obvious advantages in currency negotiation, and the exchange rates they offer are often better. In this respect, UnionPay is indeed inferior.

However, if the currency conversion fee of 1-2% is added, it is still cost-effective to use unionpay in many cases, because the difference in exchange rate quotations will generally not reach as much as 1-2%.

Of course, there are special circumstances, such as Vietnamese dong, Malaysian currency and other small currencies. Because the total settlement in RMB is small and the management cost is high, the difference between bids and bids is large. Therefore, if the difference between the purchase price and the purchase price exceeds 1%-2%, it is better to keep accounts in US dollars.

6. The exchange rate settlement time is different

VISA card: settled at the exchange rate on the bookkeeping date.

UnionPay card: settled at the exchange rate on the day of card swiping.

For example, when you swipe your card, you spend 100 dollars. If the exchange rate on the day of credit card swiping is 7 yuan RMB 1 USD, but on the day of bookkeeping, 8 yuan RMB is 1 USD. Aside from other factors, if the account is charged in US dollars (VISA), then the cardholder needs to pay back US$ 65,438 +000× 8 = 800 yuan RMB.

If the account is kept in RMB (which will be settled by UnionPay at the exchange rate on the day of card swiping), the amount shown on the bill is 100×7=700 yuan RMB, and the cardholder will eventually repay directly in RMB according to this amount.

It is difficult for ordinary consumers to predict whether the exchange rate is high or low on the day of the bill (generally after 20-30 days), and the controllability is poor. Choosing UnionPay to settle on the same day can better grasp the exchange rate settlement amount.

Baidu Encyclopedia-China UnionPay

Baidu encyclopedia-visa