Loans, credit, insurance & investment

In the early days most issuers were banks but over time the number of non-bank institutions issuing credit cards has risen sharply. A small number of these issuers manage their own credit card business and finance the receivables. Many other cards, commonly called affinity cards, are issued in the name of a particular organization or association with a large membership base but the business is actually run by a bank. The association is able to negotiate better terms for its members in terms of pricing and supplementary features.