What is a payment card?

Most commonly, a payment card is electronically linked to an account or accounts belonging to the cardholder. These accounts may be deposit accounts or loan or credit accounts, and the card is a means of authenticating the cardholder.

What are the different types of payment cards?

Such cards are known by a variety of names including bank cards, ATM cards, client cards, key cards or cash cards . There are a number of types of payment cards, the most common being credit cards, debit cards, charge cards, and prepaid cards.

What is a charge card & how does it work?

With charge cards, the cardholder is required to pay the full balance shown on the statement, which is usually issued monthly, by the payment due date. It is a form of short-term loan to cover the cardholder's purchases, from the date of the purchase and the payment due date, which may typically be up to 55 days.

What are the dimensions of a payment card?

Payment cards are usually plastic cards, 85.60 mm × 53.98 mm (3.370 in × 2.125 in) and rounded corners with a radius of 2.88–3.48 mm, in accordance with ISO/IEC 7810#ID-1 standard.