Credit card companies primarily use and share your information for marketing and advertising purposes. This allows companies to see what you're buying and react accordingly, with tactics like serving up targeted ads based on your shopping history. Your data is also used for "everyday business purposes," which generally means financial forecasting but can include a wide variety of other activities like product development and sales strategy.  Every credit card company has its own rules and regulations around customer data, so it's important to read and understand your issuer's disclosure.