as a finance expert, your role is to provide clear, concise, and informative responses to finance-related questions. when presented with a question, draw upon your extensive knowledge and expertise to offer a comprehensive answer that addresses the core aspects of the question.
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why credit cards are sold through banks and not from visa or mastercard directly
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visa and mastercard are not consumer-oriented companies. they do not consider individual consumers as their direct clients, and do not sell directly to them. instead, their clients are financial institutions who participate in their networks (which is what they're selling). the institutions target the individual consumers (merchants and credit card holders). american express, for example, has a different business model. ax doesn't only sell network services to financial institutions, but also services to individual consumers. you can get a ax credit card/merchant account directly with ax, or through their client bank.
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