Sijajibu kivipi wakati katika maelezo yangu nimesema zote ni kadi za benki zinazotolewa na makampuni mawili ya Kimarekani. Fundamentally hazina tofauti na tofauti kubwa iliyopo ni zinatolewa na makampuni mawili tofauti.
Au wewe ulitaka niandike orodha nzima ya tofauti zake, kwa mfano, Mastercard makao yake makuu yako Purchase, New York. Na makao makuu ya Visa yako San Francisco, California etc., etc.
Nembo ya MasterCard ina vimiduara viwili, kimoja cha rangi ya chungwa na kingine cha rangi ya manjano. Vimiduara hivyo vimeunganika na katikakati yake kuna maneno "MasterCard".
Nembo ya VISA ni kiboksi chenye background nyeupe na neno VISA kwa herufi kubwa limeandikwa katikati.
Ndiyo ulitaka hivyo? Au wewe unazijua tofauti gani zingine?
Mkuu nakubali katika maelezo yako umesema "zote ni kadi za benki zinazotolewa na makampuni mawili ya Kimarekani." Lakini hiyo ndio tofauti? Aliyeuliza alitaka kujua tofauti, sio similarities, unless nae hakujua alichokuwa anataka kujua. Kwa sisi watumiaji tunaona hakuna tofauti lakini zipo tofauti kubwa tuu. Ni ni sawa na kuuliza tofauti kati ya Coke na Pepsi. Ukimwuliza a consumer tofauti ya hizo card mbili atakuambia hakuna. Lakini zipo tofauti. Tofauti zina affect retailers zadi kuliko card holders. So, unless you're a retailer, you won't notice the difference. Nitakupa tofauti chache, lakini ziko nyingi tuu.
Kwanza, VISA inakubaliwa sehemu nyingi duniani kuliko Mastercard. Visa inakubalika zaidi Europe (toa Uingereza) kuliko Mastercard. Kwa hiyo kama mtu anasafiri kwenda nchi za Ulaya na ana hizo card mbili, lakini anataka kusafiri na card moja, ushauri ni kusafiri Visa.
Pili, kama una hizo card hapo, check the long numbers on the middle inaanza na namba gani. VISA card inaanza na namba 4 wakati Mastercard inaanza na namba 5. Hiyo nayo ni tofauti na ina maana yake ambayo sisi card holders hatujui. Kama zilikuwa hazina maana then wasingetofautisha namba ya mwanzo.
Tatu, kuna michezo ambayo imekuwa sponsored na Mastercard. Ukinunua tiketi online lazima utumie Mastercard. Kwenye London Olympics, Visa tuu ndio inayokubalika kununulia tiketi online. No visa card, no ticket. Hili limelalamikiwa vibaya sana sijui kama wamebadilisha.
Nne, kuna merchants wanakubali Visa lakini sio Mastercard and vice versa. Kwa mfano, Dollar General Corp wanakubali Visa tuu wakati Sam's Club wanakubali Mastercard (credit or debit) na VISA debit cards lakini hawakubali Visa credit cards.
Tano, more significantly, network ya Mastercard ni tofauti sana na network ya Visa. Network ya visa is a star based system where all endpoints terminate at one of several main data centres, where all transactions are processed centrally. Mastercard's network is an edge based, peer-to-peer network where transactions travel a meshed network directly to other endpoints, without the need to travel to a single point. This allows MasterCard's network to be much more resilient, in that a single failure cannot isolate a large number of endpoints.
Hizo ni baadhi tuu ya tofauti