What Credit Cards Are:

Those little rectangles of plastic called credit cards have become an almost ubiquitous component of modern life. So much so that if you're one of the small percentage of people without a credit card you may well find it dificult buying tickets, reserving hotel rooms or even renting a car. To own one is to be a paid-up member of modern consumer society.

Using a credit card is effectively like taking-out a loan. That loan must be re-paid to the credit card company (the lender) within the credit cycle (billing is usually every 30 days and thus the credit period can vary from 7 days to 45 days depending on when the purchase was made). If the money is not repaid within this time an interest charge is levied (applied) to the remaining balance.

Credit cards are issued by a credit provider (this is often a bank, but can sometimes be a captive bank created to issue a particular brand of credit card, such as American Express Centurion Bank). When thinking about credit card brands most people think in terms of the issuing bank or provider such as Chase Manhattan, CitiBank, American Express, Braclays etc; that is the issuer name usually embossed on the top left hand corner of the card. However, these issuers are, in general, merely agents for the large-scale conglomerates that issue and clear credit card purchases (the best known being Visa and MasterCard)

Please use the links provided on this page to find information about credit cards and to look for the best type of credit card for you.