Visa and MasterCard make most of their money that way, but they don't by and large underwrite the debt -- various banks do[0]. That's why you don't get credit

Visa and MasterCard make most of their money that way, but they don't by and large underwrite the debt -- various banks do[0]. That's why you don't get credit card offers directly from Visa or MasterCard, you get them directly from banks. Visa and MasterCard only care that debtors default insofar as it affects the market as a whole. [0]-American Express and Discover have somewhat different business models, and do underwrite most of the debt themselves. I don't know about foreign systems, but I'm given to understand they are mostly not credit based.