Merchant Lynx - Visa Extras program
The Visa Extras program allows you to earn a broad range of rewards just for using your Visa check card.
With Visa Extras, you’ll earn points for every dollar you spend on qualifying purchases with your enrolled Visa check card. Those points quickly add up to exciting reward choices–everything from easily obtainable, everyday goods to larger, higher-value rewards.
Note: you’ll need to check with your issuer to determine if your card is eligible for the Visa Extras program and for specific program details.
Visa's Zero Liability policy covers U.S.–issued cards only and does not apply to ATM transactions, PIN transactions not processed by Visa, or certain commercial card transactions. Cardholder must notify issuer promptly of any unauthorized use.
According to a recent study by the American Bankers Association and Dove Consulting, credit cards account for 21% of purchases, debit cards, which can be signature-debit or PIN-debit, garner 31% of the volume, while pre-paid or gift cards take 2%. Signature-debit purchases, through Visa or MasterCard, require buyers to sign a receipt. These transactions can settle within hours or a few days. PIN-debit purchases, which require buyers to enter their personal identification number into a keypad, are withdrawn in seconds.
Just as the paper versus plastic debate looks all but decided, the fight for your wallet has become an almost dizzying battle among card industry giants.
The tussle has several fronts and too many constituents to count. There are the merchants--stores like Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ), Safeway (nyse: SWY - news - people ) and Sears (nyse: S - news - people )--which reached multibillion-dollar settlements with Visa USA and MasterCard in 2003 over allegations that the card conglomerates were gouging them on high-fee signature-debit purchases. There are outstanding lawsuits between processor First Data (nyse: FDC - news - people ) and Visa USA, related to First Data's desire to keep certain card transactions within its network. There are fights between regional ATM/PIN-debit operators and national networks.