Is it possible for a merchant to accept Visa and not Mastercard or vise vera?

Question

I often see Visa and Mastercard featured together, but they are seperate brands. I'm wondering if there are mercahnts that accept the one brand and not the other?

Answer 1

merchants do retain the rights to refuse any card they wish. i myself have never seen either a visa or mastercard not accepted because they are the 2 biggest brands and have comparable fees (because merchants pay fees for running the cards). i do see plenty of places that do not accept discover and even more that do no accept american express (amex has large merchant fees)  

Answer 2

yes. for example, Visa is the sponsor of the Olympics and only Visa cards are accepted at the games b/c of the sponsorship.

Answer 3

It depends upon what services the merchant pays for.  You have to pay for these services they are not free to the stores.  So it depends upon their fees and what you want to accept.  You can take your pick as a store.

Answer 4

I cannot verify it but I do believe that a merchant can choose which credit cards they will honor. The best proof I can offer is that many merchants will not accept "American Express" because the fees imposed by AX are higher than the other cards are. I have also seen specific branded VISA OR MasterCard cards not being honored. In my area either one of them branded with CITGO (oil company) are no longer accepted.