Best Visa Credit Cards for May 2024 | Bankrate (2024)

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Several credit card issuers and banks use the Visa payment network. Networks like Visa, along with Discover, American Express and Mastercard, facilitate electronic transactions of funds between buyers and sellers. They generally charge a small fee for each transaction.

While Visa technically acts as the facilitator for all payments made with a Visa credit card, it is not a credit card issuer or bank. It simply provides the technology that credit card issuers and banks use for Visa cards.

Visa is at the top of the payment processing industry as the largest of the four major U.S. credit card networks. If you have a debit, credit or prepaid card in your wallet, there's a good chance that the card is partnered with Visa.

With over 1 billion credit cards in circulation worldwide (an estimated 798 million outside the U.S.), Visa's international presence is undeniable. Visa cards are accepted in more than 200 countries and can be used with more than 10 million merchants in the United States. In the first three quarters of 2022, Visa's worldwide credit payments were more than $2 trillion, according to Bankrate.com Market Share Statistics.

Visa credit card benefit tiers

All Visa cards fall under one of three benefit tiers: Traditional, Signature and Infinite. Each card tier offers different benefits, but your card issuer will determine the exact benefits that come with your card.

According to our data, Visa cards on this page received a combined total of over 21,000 applications in 2023, suggesting that Visa has partnered with a number of popular card issuers.

That said, the vast majority of applicants applied for these cards via a different “Best of” page (like Best Credit Cards, Best Cash Back Cards and the like). This suggests that very few people are specifically seeking a Visa credit card — Visa just so happens to be the payment network associated with the cards they want, and their choice of card is based not on its payment network, but its rewards, perks, cost and other details.

If you aren’t sure where to start with your search for a Visa credit card, consider looking at Visa Signature cards. This mid-level Visa tier includes cards that come with a handful of solid perks and usually have fairly decent rewards rates. If you can familiarize yourself with Visa Signature cards, you can determine if they’re enough to meet your needs or if you need to consider Visa Traditional or Infinite cards.

Still unsure if a Visa credit card is right for you? Check out our CardMatch tool to get personalized credit card recommendations and prequalification offers based on your credit score, spending habits and daily needs.

Visa credit cards are worth considering because they’re part of the most prevalent credit card network available and can have valuable benefits. Merchants almost anywhere in the world will be able to accept payments with a Visa credit card. Since the Visa network includes many credit card types, it should also be easy to find a Visa card you can make the most of.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when you’re looking for your next Visa card or hoping to maximize one you hold:

• Earn your welcome offer

  The best Visa cards carry valuable welcome offers that bring a lot of value to your first year with your new card. Use your card whenever possible in your first few months to meet any spending requirement attached to your sign-up bonus. It may be tempting to spend in excess, so plan your purchases ahead of time to avoid spending beyond your means. If you overspend chasing a welcome offer and end up carrying a balance, the interest charges could negate rewards.

• Check card acceptance

  Visa may be the largest of the credit card networks with the widest acceptance rate, but you might run into a merchant that won’t take Visa cards. If this is the case, they might not take any credit cards. However, it pays to remain aware so you aren’t left stunned in the checkout process.

• Maximize your rewards categories

  Visa cards include several reward categories across many cards. You should know where and in which categories your card(s) earn the most points, cash back or miles when you’re maximizing rewards categories. It can help to calculate how much you’ll spend in a given month, quarter or year in each of your spending categories when thinking about how you’ll use a credit card.

  Like with any card, you should avoid spending for the sake of earning rewards or cash back.

• Be aware of rates and fees

  Some of the most common credit card fees to watch for include annual fees, late payment fees, foreign transaction fees and balance transfer fees. And while you should strive to avoid carrying a balance, you’ll want a low ongoing APR if you anticipate not paying your balance in full.

When evaluating the best Visa credit cards, we take into account several factors, including how cards score in our proprietary card rating system and whether they offer features that fit the priorities of a diverse group of cardholders, from earning rewards to scoring a large sign-up bonus to saving on interest.

We analyzed over 250 of the most popular credit cards and selected standout Visa cards.We scored each card based on the factors most relevant to its primary category, including its rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, intro APR period, ongoing APR, perks and more to determine whether it belonged in this month’s roundup.

Here are some of the key factors that we considered: