What Is Platinum Visa?

[OldBather]

My Visa Credit Card appears as a Platinum Visa on my online account details.I have Googled Platinum Visa,but find it very confusing,as even Barclays (my Credit Card Bank) has several sites,with many confusing definitions.All I want to know is,what is it,and is it something special;given the name Platinum I would think so.Any help most gratefully received.

[hc4361]

It's a meaningless term that simply differentiates between the cards offered by the same bank. Different introductory offers, interest rates and so on.

[fiction-factory]

As long as you know and are happy with the Tc and Cs of your account i wouldn't worry about the name- terms like Gold and Platinum are often just a marketing tool to make you feel special

[Buenchico]

In the days before credit cards (yes, there really were such days!), when the only type of 'plastic card' available was American Express (where you had to pay the balance off in full at the end of each month) a 'gold card holder' was someone extra special. (i.e. very, very wealthy!). Such a card could be used to buy a fleet of Lamborghinis and Ferraris, together with a couple of massive yachts and loads of mega-expensive jewellery, all on the same day without there being the slightest question mark over the cardholder's ability to pay his bill at the end of the month.

With the advent of credit cards, banks continued to keep 'gold cards' for their most favoured customers for a while but then used the idea of being able to get hold of a 'gold card' as a marketing tool to draw in the gullible.

Once everyone had got used to the idea that a 'gold card' was no longer particularly special, they repeated the ploy but using the term 'platinum card' instead. Once again, though, we've reached the stage where almost anyone can have a platinum card, so again the name is really meaningless. A 'platinum' Barclaycard is now the ordinary one which most people get. Only people with a poor credit history, who're seeking to build up their credit score, are given an 'initial' (i.e. 'non-platinum' card).

Having gone through 'gold' and 'platinum' , it will be interesting to see what the banks come up with next, which is even more valuable than platinum. An 'inkjet printer ink' card, perhaps?
;-)

[Peter Pedant]

If you look at your credit limit
it will be above 10k ( I think )

altho you never spend up to that a month ! hur hur hur they will allow you to as that is where the money is tobe made for them ( in interest when you cant pay it off )

also I have to say that when I tried to pay a bill of £8k on my card - it was rejected ( unusual spending activity )

when I told a clerk I had a platinum card he said
O you can spend up to £10k then and sniggered - presumaby reflecting it was more than he got in a year...... and
I said " no I think it is quite a lot more than that "
[ I go around looking like a cross between a tramp a gardener and a male bag lady]

[Hopkirk]

It's because you are a very special person.

[Jackdaw33]

Mastercard do the same. It's virtually meaningless.