Abstract:
Credit cards have been popular since before World War II. Many private shops (Sears, Marcy's, Goldwater's) introduced expense accounts and provided customers with credit cards that allowed them to make purchases from them without using cash. However, due to high transaction costs, such cards were issued only to select customers, individuals and firms that could afford expensive purchases. Worldwide, the main function of payment organizations is to process payments between banks, businesses that accept cards and cardholder banks that own VISA or Mastercard branded cards. This includes both credit and debit cards.