One major advantage to having a credit card is the convenience of being able to purchase goods and services now and paying for them later. After receiving your monthly credit card statement you can choose to either pay the outstanding balance in full or make payments over time. If you make payments over time, finance (interest) charges will apply to any unpaid balance.

You can think of a credit card account as a form of a loan. Therefore, eventually you as a cardholder have to pay all charges made on the credit card. Since credit cards offer a variety of benefits, and several types of finance charges may be imposed under certain conditions, it is wise to compare credit cards before you apply.

The first general use credit card was introduced in 1958, from the Bank of America; called BankAmericard. This was later renamed the VISA card.