 TITLE: How Do Credit Card Companies Make Money? CONTENT: When looking at how credit card companies work, it's important to distinguish between the different types of companies out there: credit card issuers and credit card networks.\nA credit card issuer is the bank or credit union that provides the credit card and lends the money used in a transaction. Chase, Citi and Capital One are three well-known credit card issuers. Co-branded credit cards like those you see from airlines or hotels are examples of issuers teaming with outside companies to create a card that offers consumers some type of specific reward.\nA credit card network—like Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover—is the entity that processes each credit card transaction, handling the technical aspects of electronically moving the money around. American Express and Discover are both card issuers and networks, which means that in addition to processing, they also lend the money used in their cards' transactions.\nCard issuers and networks make money in different ways. Networks typically make their money from the merchants, who pay a fee to accept electronic payments from credit cards. The issuers make money from the consumer by charging them interest and fees according to their credit card agreements. END