Best Visa Credit Cards

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Contributor, Benzinga
December 25, 2023

Credit cards make payments easier. You don’t need to carry money around or jump through hoops to make online purchases. Yet credit cards offer more than just convenience. Whether you are shopping around for generous perks, sign-up bonuses or to bump up your credit score, chances are you will find a Visa credit card to fit your lifestyle.

Below, Benzinga has listed some of the best Visa credit cards available. 

Quick Look: Best Visa Credit Cards

What Are the Best Visa Credit Cards?

Are you looking for low rates or extra perks? You will find plenty of options with Visa.

1. Best for No Annual Fee: U.S. Bank Visa Platinum Card

Keep a little more money in your pocket with U.S. Bank Visa Platinum Card. With no annual fee and a 0% introductory annual percentage rate (APR) on purchases and balance transfers for 21 billing cycles, you can hold onto more of your cash.

Pros

  • No annual fee
  •  Long introductory 0% APR term

Cons

  • Regular APR ranges from 18.74% to 29.74%
  • Balance transfer fee of 3%
  • Good to excellent credit score
  • No rewards

2. Best for Balance Transfers: Wells Fargo Reflect Card

Are you tired of watching credit card interest drive up your balance? The Wells Fargo Reflect Card features a 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for up to 21 billing cycles. When you transfer balances from other credit cards to your Reflect Card, you can avoid expensive interest costs. Just be sure you can pay off your balance before the introductory period ends, or you may face costly interest.

Pros

  • No annual fee
  • 0% introductory APR on balance transfers and purchases
  • Personalized deals
  • Cell phone protection up to $600

Cons

  • Incur a 5% fee when transferring balances
  •  APR 18.74% to 29.99%
  •  Good to excellent credit

3. Best for Cash Back: Chase Freedom Unlimited

You can earn some generous rewards with the Chase Freedom Unlimited Visa card. Every qualifying purchase can land you between 1% and 5% of cashback. Plus, you get a $200 bonus if you make $500 in qualifying purchases during the first three months.

Pros

  • Earn 1% to 5% cash back
  • Unlimited cashback match
  •  0% APR for 15 months

Cons

  • 20.49% to 29.24% APR
  • Cashback is limited to $12,000 in annual purchases

4. Best for Rebuilding Credit: Chime Credit Builder Secured Visa

A Chime Credit Builder Secured Visa can help you get your credit score back on track. Your Secured Visa acts like a debit card because you can only spend up to what you have set aside. The difference is that your payment activity gets reported to the credit bureaus. 

Pros

  • No credit check
  • No security deposit
  • No annual fees

Cons

  • Must open a Chime bank account
  • No rewards

5. Best for Travel: Chase Sapphire Reserve Card

If you regularly travel for work or pleasure, why not earn some extra points along the way? With Chase’s Sapphire Reserve Visa, you earn 10 points for every dollar spent on hotel and car rentals and 5 points for every dollar spent on flights. You still earn 1 point for every dollar spent outside the travel categories. 

Pros

  • Introductory offer of 60,000 bonus points
  • Earn 10x total points on hotel and car rentals
  • Earn 5x total points on flights

Cons

  • $550 annual fee
  • No 0% introductory APR offer
  • 22.49% to 29.49% APR

6. Best for Commuters: Credit One Bank Platinum X5 Visa

If you commute or just put a lot of miles on your car, you could earn some extra cash with a Platinum X5 Visa. Each year, you can earn 5% cash back on up to $5,000 of eligible gas, groceries, mobile phone, cable, internet and satellite TV services, with 1% earned after that. 

Pros

  • Earn points on everyday purchases
  • Average to excellent credit score

Cons

  • Annual fee
  • 29.24% APR
  • No introductory offers

7. Best for Students: Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards

The Unlimited Cash Reward Visa card from Bank of America gives students access to credit while away from home. This Visa card offers financial education tools to help students understand the importance of credit and establishing good financial habits. 

Pros

  • No annual fee
  • 0% introductory APR
  • Cashback rewards

Cons

  • 3% foreign transaction fee
  • 18.24% to 28.24% APR

8. Best for Low APR: CoreFirst Platinum Visa

If you have excellent credit, you can catch a low 11.75% APR with the CoreFirst Platinum Visa. The card features a six-month introductory 1.9% APR for purchases and balance transfers. You earn 1 point for every $1 spent on qualifying purchases.

Pros

  • Low APR
  • No annual fee
  • Reward program

Cons

  • Need an excellent credit score
  • Short introductory APR period

What Is a Visa Credit Card?

A Visa credit card lets the holder borrow funds to buy goods and services without needing cash. Cardholders are billed monthly for the charges made. The cardholder pays interest if the balance isn't paid completely by the due date.

Banks and other financial institutions offer Visa credit cards. Some credit cards offer perks like reward programs, low APRs or no annual fees. 

Types of Visa Credit Cards

Visa credit cards provide benefits and protections based on different tiers, as follows.

Visa Classic

The Visa Classic or Visa Traditional card makes paying for purchases and services easy. Cardholders have access to such protections and benefits as:

  • Emergency card replacement
  • Roadside dispatch
  • Zero liability for unauthorized purchases
  • Emergency cash disbursement

Visa Gold

A Visa Gold card expands the benefits offered under the Classic tier, along with such other features as:

  • Extended warranty coverage
  • Purchase protection
  • Global ATM network

Visa Platinum

The Visa Platinum adds such features as:

  • Price protection
  • International emergency medical services
  • Travel benefits and concierge services
  • 24/7 customer care

Visa Signature

A Visa Signature card offers expanded protection for trips and purchases.

Notable Signature Visa features include:

  • Travel accident insurance
  • Baggage delay reimbursement
  • Hotel theft protection
  • Cell phone protection
  • Price and return protection

Visa Infinite

The Visa Infinite card offers the highest level of benefits. You get the benefits of all earlier tiers, plus:

  • Rental car privileges and discounts
  • Airport lounge access
  • Trip cancellation and trip interruption reimbursement
  • Travel and emergency assistance services
  • Trip delay reimbursement

The Pros and Cons of Owning a Visa Credit Card

Consider the pros and cons to ensure you can benefit by opening a Visa credit card account. Features vary by tier and the credit card issuer. 

Pros

  • Safer to carry than cash
  • Increase your purchasing power
  • Widely accepted
  • Build credit
  • Reward programs
  • Purchase and pricing protection

Cons

  • End up in debt if you can’t pay off your balance when due
  • High interest rates
  • Fees

Key Differences Between Visa and Mastercard

Both Visa and Mastercard are globally accepted methods of payment. You will find many similarities between both cards’ features, benefits and protections. While Visa and Mastercard process payments through their networks, only Mastercard issues credit cards. Visa cards are issued directly from banks or other financial institutions. 

Choosing the Best Visa Credit Card

Picking the best Visa credit card often comes down to your financial goals. Whether you want to earn a little extra rewards cash or points or fix your credit, you are bound to find the right Visa credit card to fit your needs. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q

Is Visa a credit card issuer?

A

Visa is not a credit card issuer. Instead, Visa operates as a payment network facilitating a purchase between the merchant and the bank issuing the credit card.

Q

What is the highest rank of Visa card?

A

Visa Infinite is the highest-ranked Visa card.

Q

Which one is better, Visa or Mastercard?

A

The choice between Visa and Mastercard comes down to personal preference. While Visa has issued more credit cards than Mastercard, both are globally accepted. Whether you choose Visa or Mastercard, both offer similar features, perks and protections.

Q

Do Visa credit cards offer purchase protection or extended warranties?

A

Visa Signature and Visa Infinite offer purchase protection and extended warranties on qualified purchases.

Anna Yen

About Anna Yen

Anna Yen, CFA is a personal finance writer with over two decades of professional finance and writing experience in roles within JPMorgan and UBS derivatives, asset management, crypto, and Family Money Map. She specializes in writing about personal finance topics ranging from investments, budgeting, debt management, credit, student loans, insurance, and retirement planning to real estate and cryptocurrencies. Her work has been published on sites like Quicken, the crypto exchange Bybit, and Credit.com.