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.

Visa and MasterCard operate the two largest international networks on behalf of their members. Both organizations have been subject to legal action and regulatory investigation concerning the extent to which they provide and charge for these services constitutes an anti-competitive practice. They do not issue credit cards as such nor do they manage or finance credit card receivables.