Is Mastercard bigger in other countries then?
Maestro is very popular in Europe.
I have no good data to support this but on my particular travels in European and Asian countries, MasterCard has generally been better supported with wider acceptance and fewer issues than Visa cards. Second only to JCB/UnionPay (I believe they are in a partnership for cross-support based on my limited ability to translate the signage) in my experience of SEA.
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There are lots of snippets out there about which card network has what market share. In broad terms, supported by this article, Visa is twice as big as MasterCard in the US and about equal in the rest of the world: http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/market-share-statistics.php
Suits me, I always like to back the underdog!! I’ve always had good acceptance and service from the mastercards I’ve had previously, so let’s hope that continues. I had a switch card many moons ago and liked that until my bank defected to visa. MasterCard have always had the best transaction rates abroad so that suits me nicely.
Monzo and MasterCard seem to be a good match.
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Simple question -why did monzo choose to go with MasterCard debit instead of visa debit? Just wondering
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I believe the exchange rate is better on MasterCard.
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They charge less, to get their Mastercard Debit brand out there. It’s why pretty much all newer banks use them.
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. 
For overseas travellers the exchange rate is better and in some countries (in central and south America) some bank’s ATM networks do not accept Visa cards and only MasterCard or Mæstro.
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I’ve moved your topic here to make it easier for anyone with your question to find all the reasons why Monzo might have decided to issue MasterCard cards, I hope that makes sense 
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When we first started out, Mastercard were really open to talking with us about how we could work together. It was more difficult to start the same conversation with Visa.
There isn’t a great deal of difference in exchange rates between the two actually, many of the additional charges in this respect are padding added to the base offering provided my Mastercard or Visa.
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Some merchants are not accepting my Monzo Mastercard, telling me they don’t accept credit cards. I had to withdraw cash and return to pay for my goods. Will this always be the case or will Monzo offer Visa Debit in the future?
You might have to tell them it’s NOT a credit card. Monzo issues MasterCard Debit. A shiny sticker at the back of the card also shows this is a Debit card. Some other UK banks like Metro, B, Starling and from next year Lloyds I think TSB issue the same type of MC Debit.
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If a merchant accepts Mastercard as payment, then they should not refuse your Monzo debit card. They are breaching their Mastercard terms of use if they do this.
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Then they are idiots and can’t have a large customer base. The number of Mastercard Debit cards is growing by the day, and even in my sleepy village the handful of shops that do take cards see them regularly.
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Lloyds Bank do not issue Mastercard Debit, but from next year TSB will become the largest issuer of these cards in the UK (Lloyds and TSB separated in 2013)
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Thanks for the correction. Yes, I was not sure if it was Lloyds or TSB. Updated the post above 
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The merchants were Costcutter and Post Office. I guess in time they will update as more customers are paying with MC Debit.
Was this a person declining it or the terminal declining it? If a person, poor education most likely. If the machine, and they’re debit only - it’s possible that due to Visa’s large UK debit market share they only take Visa?