Visa cards are issued by a variety of banks and financial institutions. Check with the institution that issued your card online or over the phone, or look at your printed statements, to determine your Visa balance.
Debit Card Balances
Financial institutions issue both debit cards and credit cards with the Visa logo. If you have a Visa debit card linked to your checking account, you can spend up to the amount of money in your account.
If you use online banking, you can usually check your bank account's current balance, and see any pending charges, by accessing your account through the bank's website or by using its mobile app.
You can usually also check your bank balance by calling the number on your bank statements or the back of your debit card, either by talking to a customer service representative or by using an automated phone system. Many ATMs will allow you to check your bank balance as well. If your balance drops to zero or below, you may be subject to overdraft or other charges or be unable to make further purchases with the card until you add money to the account.
Often, you can also check your bank balance by dropping by a local branch. You may need to present ID, or your debit card, to prove to the teller that you are the account holder. Or you can check the balance at the ATM, using your card.
Credit Card Balance
If your Visa card is a credit card, the balance reflects how much money you owe to the company that issued the card. Your monthly statements will generally show your credit card balance at the end of each month's billing cycle, which is the amount you must pay to avoid owing interest — but you may want more up-to-the-minute data about your spending.
In that case, you can access your credit card online to see your latest transactions, current balance and any pending transactions. You can generally also call the number on the back of your credit card to access current balance information or recent transactions, and speak to a customer service representative with any questions. You can usually also see or hear the balance at the end of your last billing cycle if you wish to use this to determine how much to pay on your monthly credit card bill.
Many banks allow you to automatically pay the latest statement balance each month to avoid interest charges, so it can be helpful to know this number to understand how much will be taken from your checking account to pay your Visa card bill. Most credit cards have a maximum spending limit, and if your balance goes above this limit you won't be able to spend any more using the card.