Mastercard® Credit Cards

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Comparing Offers from Mastercard

Updated: December 28, 2020

Mastercard, one of the world’s dominant payment systems, teams up with such giants as Bank of America and Citi to bring you all manner of cards, from credit-builder cards to exclusive travel credit cards. This brand also offers its own benefits, from security to its proprietary Priceless Cities program. Here, we look at:

• What is Mastercard?
• Editor’s take on best Mastercards
• Mastercard’s unique programs
• World and World Elite categories
• Mastercard benefits for small businesses and merchants
• Recap table

What is Mastercard?

As a network, Mastercard doesn’t issue cards directly – rather, it partners with massive banks such as Bank of America, as well as your local bank or credit union, which provide cards that carry the Mastercard logo. Then, Mastercard also partners with millions of merchants around the world, which accept cards with their logo while paying a processing fee. Products can be debit, prepaid, charge or credit cards.

Mastercard is one of the dominant card networks, which also include Visa, Discover and American Express. Accepted throughout the world, it is one of the go-to networks for worldwide travel.

There are a number of unique advantages to using a Mastercard, including worldwide acceptance. In fact, in recent years, Mastercard’s international growth has been considerably greater than U.S. growth, with the debit and prepaid markets being particularly strong:

Mastercard purchase transaction growth in 2019…

• Mastercard credit and charge, less U.S.
• 17.8%
• Mastercard credit and charge, U.S.
• 13.5%
• Mastercard credit and charge, worldwide
• 16.9%
• Mastercard debit and prepaid, less U.S.
• 31.5%
• Mastercard debit and prepaid, U.S.
• 8.1%
• Mastercard debit and prepaid, worldwide
• 22.6%

Source: Mastercard Supplemental Operational Performance Data

Editor’s take on the best Mastercards

Citi® Double Cash Card

This card is perfect for the consumer who wants to set it and forget it – no dealing with rotating categories or even tiered categories. With Citi Double Cash, you earn 1% back on every purchase, then another 1% when you pay, bringing the total in cash back to 2%. So, $1,000 spent a month comes to $240 back at the end of your first year.

Highlights

• 0% APR on balance transfers for 18 months (then 13.99% – 23.99% variable)
• No caps on cash back
• No annual fee

Citi Rewards+® Card

This card’s 15,000-point sign-up bonus rivals that of the Chase Freedom cards – earn 15,000 bonus points after a $1,000 spend within the first 3 months of card membership, worth $150 when redeemed. Also, earn 2X points at supermarkets and gas stations for the first $6,000 spend each year. It’s 1X point after that and on other purchases.

Highlights

• No annual fee
• Get 10% points back for the first 100,000 ThankYou points you redeem each year; card rounds up to the nearest 10 points on every purchase
• 0% APR on balance transfers for 15 months, then a variable 13.49%-23.49% after that

Citi®/AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®

If you frequently fly with American Airlines, this card could be a great way to rack up AAdvantage miles while getting a taste of luxury travel. Along with the 2X miles you’ll earn on eligible American Airlines purchases, you can score a huge sign-up bonus of 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months (worth around $700 in travel according to The Points Guy’s AAdvantage mile valuation). You’ll also enjoy elite perks like free lounge access and credits for expedited security screening.

Highlights

• Earn 50,000 AAdvantage miles if you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months
• Enjoy perks like Admirals Club lounge access (a value of up to $650) and priority check-in and boarding
• Get a credit of up to $100 for Global Entry/TSA PreCheck every 5 years
• No foreign transaction fee

IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card

This card is currently offering a sign-up bonus of 140,000 points if you spend $3,000 in the first three months, and it also comes with an annual bonus of 10,000 points each year you spend $20,000 and make one additional purchase. You’ll also enjoy an array of travel and consumer perks like a credit of up to $100 for Global Entry / TSA PreCheck every 4 years and cell phone protection.

Highlights

• Earn up to 25X points on IHG hotel stays, 2X points on gas station, grocery store and restaurant purchases and 1X points on all other purchases
• Score this card’s sign-up bonus: 140,000 points if you spend $3,000 in the first three months
• Perks and benefits that far outweigh the card’s annual fee of $89
• No foreign transaction fee

BankAmericard® credit card

The BankAmericard credit card is a simple credit card that is competitive when it comes to APR offers. For the first 12 billing cycles, the BankAmericard offers a special intro APR for purchases as well as balance transfers made in your first 60 days. After that, the regular interest rate comes in at a relatively low 12.99%-22.99% variable APR. There’s no annual fee, no penalty APR, and convenient access to your FICO credit score

Highlights

• No annual fee
• Free access to FICO score via online banking and mobile app
• Great offer on balance transfers

Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card

This no-annual-fee card is a smart choice if you want to earn cash back on every purchase without the hassle of tracking spending or enrolling in bonus categories. You’ll earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase, no matter where, when or what you buy. It’ll also pair well with a card that earns bonus rewards in a specific spending category like travel, allowing you to squeeze extra cash back out of your everyday purchases.

Highlights

• No annual fee
• 1.5% cash back on every purchase
• Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 in the first 3 months

Capital One Platinum Credit Card

This card is ideal for the consumer who is looking to improve his credit with responsible card use. Accepting fair, limited or average credit, the Capital One Platinum has no annual fee and may give you access to a higher credit limit after you make your first 6 payments on time.

Highlights

• Pay by check, online or at a branch, no fee
• Pick your monthly due date
• No annual fee

Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

Trying to build your credit but itching to jump into the rewards game? The QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards is an excellent choice. Not only are consumers with average, limited or fair credit accepted, but they get a competitive 1.5% cash back on purchases. You can also monitor your credit with the CreditWise app, which is available to everyone.

Highlights

• Annual fee is only $39
• No rotating categories
• No limit on the amount of cash back you earn

Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business

Ideal for rewards-savvy, budget-conscious small-business owners, this card charges no annual fee and offers plus 1.5X miles on all purchases. You can redeem miles through the Capital One Travel portal, use them to cover travel purchases made on third-party sites or transfer to one of the card’s airline and hotel partners (Capital One recently expanded its partner list and boosted its JetBlue transfer ratio).

Highlights

• No annual fee or foreign transaction fee
• 1.5X miles on every purchase
• Earn 20,000 bonus miles when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months

Mastercard’s unique programs

Mastercard offers unique programs and benefits such as the Priceless series, SecureCode, and Masterpass.

Priceless

With Priceless Cities and Surprises, you can get once-in-a-lifetime experiences from sporting events to dining experiences. Go on a safari in the Dubai desert. Or experience a surprise of a lifetime after using your Mastercard. The world is yours with a Mastercard.

SecureCode

Mastercard SecureCode is a private code for your Mastercard account that only you and your financial institution see. Merchants don’t see it. You can use SecureCode in 122 countries at more than a million online merchants. It’s easy to activate:

1. Enter your card number. Click the SIGN UP button, find your bank’s website and create your private code.
2. Verify your identity. To enroll, you will be asked to confirm your identity by providing answers to security questions.
3. Create your SecureCode. Once you have answered the security questions, you will be asked to create your secure code.
4. Registration is complete. Once you have created your SecureCode, your enrollment is complete and you are ready to begin shopping online.

Masterpass

A digital wallet, Masterpass works online, in apps and in stores and on any device. You can store your cards and shipping information electronically, allowing you to shop from one account. You just register on masterpass.com or through your bank and load your Mastercard credit or debit card.

You can use Masterpass at thousands of online merchants and at more than a million store locations. You get multi-tiered security and Zero Liability protects you from unauthorized purchases.

World and World Elite categories

There are 2 exclusive categories with the Mastercard suite – the World and World Elite, each with excellent benefits when you use your Mastercard.

World

• Free shipping with more than 140 online stores
• Home sharing – choose from more than 10,000 rentals in cities worldwide
• Priceless Cities
• Identity theft
• Room upgrades
• Vacation packages
• Airport concierge

World Elite

• Free shipping
• Home sharing
• 24/7 concierge
• Priceless Cities
• Identity theft
• Trip cancellation insurance
• Room upgrades
• Vacation packages
• Airport concierge

Mastercard benefits for small businesses and merchants

Businesses

Mastercard’s lineup for businesses ranges from employee spending controls to access to a portfolio of hotels and resorts. For example:

Hotels and resorts portfolio

Experience room upgrades, early check-in and late check-out, and daily breakfast for two. You also get savings and deals on air, hotel, rental car and more.

Employee spending controls

With Mastercard in Control for Business, you can delegate spending to employees safely and efficiently. With this program, you can create customized spending profiles that specifies how, when and where employees spend. You can also create limit-use cards that employees can use to make secure purchases online.

Business insights

Mastercard Advisors provides you with insights into consumer behavior. From access to early industry sales data to models that score likely consumer engagement, Mastercard offers a host of tools that can help you expand your business.

Smart Data

These tools help you with compliance, reporting and analysis. This online expense management system allows you to manage and control spending, generate spending reports and integrate purchase data into accounting software.

Priceless Cities

Use out-of-this-world experiences to impress clients. Take a cooking class at Miami’s Wynwood Yard or take an insider’s tour of New York’s Theater District with a star actor – the possibilities are limitless.

Merchants

Mastercard helps you improve checkout processes and fight payment fraud with EMV chip technology. There’s also the Sage Payment Systems, which allows small- and medium-sized businesses to offer Masterpass.

Recap: Best Mastercard credit cards of 2021

Laura is an editor and writer at CreditCards.com. She has written extensively on all things credit cards and works to bring you the most up-to-date analysis and advice. Laura’s work has been cited in such publications as the New York Times and Associated Press. You can reach her by e-mail at laura.mohammad@creditcards.com and on Twitter @creditcards_lm.