Credit card

It is a payment card that has been provided to users (cardholders) in order to allow them to pay a merchant for products and services depending on the cardholder's accumulated debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the other agreed charges). To use a credit card, the card issuer (typically a bank or credit union) sets up a revolving account and offers the cardholder access to a line of credit, which the cardholder may use to make payments to merchants or get cash advances from cash machines. Consumer credit cards and corporate credit cards are the two types of credit cards available. However, there are certain metal cards (stainless steel, gold, palladium, titanium) as well as a few metal cards with gemstones embedded in them.

It is not necessary to pay the debt off in full every month or even at the conclusion of each statement cycle with a conventional credit card, as is the case with a charge card. Credit cards, on the other hand, enable users to accumulate an ongoing level of debt, which is subject to interest charges. Additionally, a credit card varies from a charge card in that the former usually requires a third-party company that pays the seller and is repaid by the latter, while the latter just defers payment by the purchaser until a later date.

A credit card varies from a debit card in that the owner of the card may use the card as if it were actual dollars.

As of 2018, the United States has a total of 1.12 billion credit cards in circulation, with 72 percent of individuals owning at least one.