There is also a prime rate average listed in the Wall Street Journal that is an average of the largest commercial banks. The rate given to consumers on their credit cards is often based as the prime rate plus a certain percentage, which represents the lender's assessment of the risk in lending, plus its profit margin. Revolver A term credit card issuers use for card holders who roll over part of the bill to the next month, instead of paying off the balance in full each month. About seven out of 10 card holders revolve the debt. An agreement to lend a specific amount to a borrower, and to allow that amount to be borrowed again once it has been repaid.
Most credit cards offer revolving credit.
Secured card A credit card that a card holder secures with a savings deposit to ensure payment of the outstanding balance if the card holder defaults on payments. It is used by people new to credit, or people trying to rebuild their poor credit ratings. Smart card Smart cards, sometimes called chip cards, contain a computer chip embedded in the plastic. Where a typical credit card's magnetic stripe can hold only a few dozen characters, smart cards are now available with 16K of memory. When read by a special terminals, the cards can perform a number of functions or access data stored in the chip.