A charge card is a type of credit card which allows its holder to make purchases using loans provided by a card issuer. Purchases are charged to the account of the card issuer rather than to the cardholder.
Every time a charge card holder charges a purchase to their charge card, they receive a loan from the card issuer. The line of credit – the maximum amount which they can borrow from the card issuer within one billing cycle – is determined by the terms and conditions of the charge card and by the cardholder’s creditworthiness.
At the end of each billing cycle – normally at the end of every month – the cardholder must settle the entire loan by repaying the card issuer in full. In this way, charge cards differ from standard credit cards which provide revolving loans that can be carried over from one billing period to the next.
Charge cards from American Express (issued by Swisscard AECS in Switzerland) are among the best known. In Switzerland, many credit cards are issued as charge cards, with the option of converting them to a genuine credit card by activating the installment payment option.
The interactive credit card comparison on moneyland.ch includes charge cards by default. You can exclude charge cards from results by selecting the “Yes” checkbox under “Carrying balances.”
More on this topic:
Interactive Swiss credit card, charge card and prepaid card comparison
