Whether you are buying a pair of shoes, a coffee, a car or even an exotic holiday, you will be asked how you would like to pay. Conch shells, precious gems and rare metals have all been exchanged in the past for goods and services, but modern man uses money in the form of paper bank notes, non-precious metal coins and increasingly people are opting to pay with a credit-card, a conveniently small piece of plastic kept safe in their wallet or purse. Today there are more credit-cards then ever before and the boom in the industry since its inception in the 1920s has revolutionised the way people pay for their purchases and gain credit.

Credit cards are developments of earlier credit schemes employed by merchants. During the early introduction of the automobile, an American petrol station owner realised that people needed a form of credit to pay for petrol for their cars. The company provided customers with a card credit system, allowing them to pay for their purchase over a period of time to suit their individual circumstances. This service is recognised as the first credit card scheme in the world.

Today credit cards give consumers access to monetary credit. The account holder is issued with a card with which they can make purchases. These purchases are paid for by the credit card company and recorded against the account holders account. The credit card account holder is then sent a balance of their account monthly and they must pay a minimum amount agreed with the lender each month and also have the option to pay more back if they desire. If the account holder does not pay the total balance, an interest payment is accrued and charged to the account.

The explosion in the use of credit cards throughout the UK has been dramatic and is unlikely to change in the future, there are however downsides to the service as credit card providers charge consumers higher rates of interest than many other credit suppliers. As consumers have increasingly used credit-cards, personal debt has risen dramatically in the UK. During the 1990s, credit card debt rose to its highest level in history and it keeps increasing annually. Alternative methods of credit that accrue lower rates of interest are available, such as secured loans which can be more cost effective for consumers making planned purchases.

Credit cards have been used by entrepreneurs to fund ventures including the development of the search engine Google and the filming of Battlestar Galatica: The Second Coming. Early cards were made from celluloid, metal and even paper, whilst today they are made from plastic. Designs vary enormously throughout the world and have portrayed wildlife, royalty, satellite images of the globe and even works of art from the grandmasters. The amazingly wide variety of materials and designs used to make credit cards has even given birth to a new field: Exonumia, the study of money-like objects.