Will my credit card be accepted outside the US?

The card network (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express) – not your bank – determines where your card is accepted internationally. However, the acceptance of each card brand varies greatly by country.

You can post what card(s) you have and where you’re traveling to get responses.

Typically, certain cards are categorized as “travel cards.” These cards are usually accepted in most foreign places, and most have the added bonus of not having a foreign transaction fee. However, all cards vary in their policies and where they work, so if you are planning a trip soon and are unsure if your card will work there it is important that you call customer service. Calling customer service will ensure that you are aware of not only if your card works abroad generally, but if it will work in the specific location you are travelling to. I hope this helps, and good luck!

As a general rule of thumb, Visa and Mastercard are the most widely accepted cards outside of the United States. So if you plan on using a credit card outside of the US, it’s best to probably use a Visa or Mastercard credit card. From personal experience, I use an American Express card and it gets declined a lot even in the United States. This is probably due to the fact that American Express charges a higher processing fee than other payment processors. This led me to open new credit card accounts with Visa just in case my American Express card got declined. So as another good lesson to keep in mind, it’s important to keep credit cards from different credit card processors so that if one card gets declined, you can use another card to pay instead.