Credit card is the means of payment as the replacement of money and credit card is used anytime for the product or service transaction or guaranteed the legality of the cheque that was issued to places that could accept credit card (merchant). Credit card also to carry out the cash withdrawal to the bank or the network of the credit card publisher (cash advance).

Therefore, credit card was the payment implement in the form of the card that was made from a kind of plastic where at its surface written the name, the number of the membership and the holder's signature of credit card that could give substitution of the method of payment instead of the legal one like paper money and coin and commercial paper.

At the beginning before money known as the transaction implement, each transaction was carried out by means of barter (the transaction by means of the exchange of the thing with the thing or the thing with the service or the service with the service). The further development was found money as the effective and efficient transaction implement. However, the use of money experienced the obstacle and the certain risk so as finally credit card was created.

Before credit card was used as the payment implement in carrying out the trade transaction, Edward Bellamy wrote a book in 1887 and was published a year later with the Looking Backward title that afterwards became one of the best-sellers in that period.

In this book, Bellamy took the set related in Boston, the United States in 2000. In one of his dialogues was mentioned that in 2000 (one hundred thirteen years after the writing of this book), money as the payment implement at this time will be shifted with the creditcard, where the card holder could satisfy all the requirement by using this credit card.

Credit cards, initially only as a method of avoiding the embarrassed feeling because of not bringing enough money to a restaurant or the shopping centre. Franklin National the Bank, was the first agency that issued the bank's credit card to his customer in 1951.

Afterwards credit card was accepted by the community and many small banks gathered with the American bank system, in 1966 permission to widen credit card all through small banks in America and other countries. However several banks felt unsatisfied and want to authorization in operating credit card. The wish of credit card authorization was the beginning of operational of credit card was separated. The bank or the financial agency was given by the decisive freedom fully in compiling their respective credit card program.

Based on the payment method, credit card was distinguished to credit card, charge card and debit card.

1. Credit Card

Credit Card is the kind of credit card that could be used as the implement in the product or service payment of the trade transaction, where the paying off or credit card payment could be carried out simultaneously or by paying by installments totaling minimal certain.

The number of credit card installments was counted from the value of the bill of the balance added by the monthly interest, the bill of previous month including the interest was the subject of the loan in the following month.

The typical characteristics of credit card was the provisions of the limit that applied to all the member depended on the card kind (gold, regular or classic), minimal payment 10% - 20% from the total balance of the bill and was paid not later than fall due that was determined. The delay of credit card payment (after being due) would subjected to the delay fine as big as certain percentage from minimal payment.

2. Charge Card

Charge Card is the card that could be used as the payment implement of a trade transaction of product or the service where the customer must pay all the bill fully at the end of the month or in the following month with or without the additional cost.

Generally, this credit card did not have the provisions of the use limit, payment was full on all the transactions (the bill) before the following bill and without used percentage the interest, but when payment was not done fully from the bill will be subjected to the delay fine.

3. Debit Card

Debit Card is the payment card on the trade transaction of the product or the service by using the card. In principle, the transaction using this kind of credit card was the cash transaction by not using cash but the paying off or payment was carried out by means of debiting (reduced) directly the balance of the account of credit card holder and at the same time crediting the account of the sale (merchant) as much as the transaction to the publisher's bank (the manager).

The debit card holder must have the account to the bank, because this transaction principle is like the cash transaction, so the transaction could be only carried out if of this credit card holder had the enough balance to cover the transaction cost, afterwards payment was done with debiting directly the balance
of the account of the card holder and crediting the merchant account.