ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the metaphor of strings attached to refer to the collectives assembled with credit cards. It narrates a journey that followed some of the hidden strings attached to credit cards and, by doing so, mapped some of the parts played by cards in the multiple collectives they have been helping to assemble. It is not difficult to associate the practice of borrower-to-borrower card lending with the basic principles of the New Economic Sociology, as formulated three decades ago by Mark Granovetter. Consumer credit is what is known as an unsecured form of lending; no collateral or guarantee is set aside to back the debt. Credit cards are market devices that trace each single transaction. Credit cards can even be tools for 'gardening'. Sowing is the term used in Chile's retail industry to name the marketing strategy that consists of extending the credit limits of low-income customers depending on their payment behaviour.
