A card association or a bank card association is a network of
issuing banks and
acquiring banks that process
payment card
Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner (the cardholder) to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and ...
s of a specific brand.
Examples
Familiar payment card association brands include
UnionPay,
RuPay,
American Express
American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...
,
Discover,
Diners Club,
Troy
Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
and
JCB.
While once card associations,
Visa and
Mastercard have both become publicly traded companies.
Statistics
Among
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
consumer
A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...
s alone, over 600 million payment cards are in circulation.
frontline: secret history of the credit card: watch online , PBS
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Card Association
Payment cards
Merchant services