ABSTRACT
Technology plays an important role in the world of payment cards. A chip card has a small embedded microprocessor that stores considerably more information than a magnetic stripe and is a lot more difficult to counterfeit. In the UK, Barclays Bank acquired a license to market the BankAmericard in the mid 1960s and became the dominant Visa player. Rival banks joined to form Access which was also later acquired by MasterCard. A credit card application requires far greater evaluation than a debit card which provides a convenient way to access one's funds with the bank and is normally issued, like a check book, as part of a bank account. Commercial cards are issued to small, medium, and large business enterprises. Business cards are issued to small businesses. Though there is no standard definition across markets, these are generally defined as entities with fewer than ten employees or under US $1 million in annual turnover.
