Top Credit Card Companies

The leaders of the pack

While there are dozens of credit card issuers in North America, some of them stand head and shoulders above the rest in terms of cards issued and consumer popularity. These companies include Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and Diners Club.

Visa and MasterCard are the two biggest credit card companies in the world, and American Express is trying to close the gap. Ironically, American Express is more widely used in other parts of the world than it is at home in the US. Discover and Diners Club, however, are more popular in the US than anywhere else.

American Express and Diners Club are technically considered to be charge cards instead of credit cards, as they generally have no preset spending limits and you have to pay the balance off in full every month. A true credit card lets you pay the balance off over a period of time.

Diners Club issued the world’s first charge card way back in 1950. The company recently formed an alliance with MasterCard, which means Diners Club cards now also feature a MasterCard logo, and can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted.