Charge card

[keannu]

Is "charge card" same as "credit card" issued by a credit card company or is it issued by a department store?
What is the difference between the two?

29)M:I'm sure he'd love this. I'll take it.
W:Great choice. How would you like to pay for this?
M:Charge, please.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Is "charge card" same as "credit card" issued by a credit card company or is it issued by a department store?
What is the difference between the two?

29)M:I'm sure he'd love this. I'll take it.
W:Great choice. How would you like to pay for this?
M:Charge, please.

Charge cards can be either.

 

[mayita1usa]

Is "charge card" same as "credit card" issued by a credit card company or is it issued by a department store?
What is the difference between the two?

In the US, the term "credit card" mostly replaced "charge card" several decades ago; in fact, MasterCard used to be MasterCharge! But I think you may be right that if we ever do say "charge card", it would refer to a card issued by a specific retailer such as a department store, while "credit card" refers to the ones issued by banks, such as a Visa or American Express.

 

[keannu]

According to Wikipedia definition, "charge card" is different from "credit card" in that the former is not allowed to be repaid for several months, while the latter is. How could a deparment store or shopping mall issue a credit-card like card? In Korea, some shopping malls issue discount card to accumulate your points, which at some point can be cashed for your purchase. Do you mean like that?

=======================
A charge card is a card that provides a payment method enabling the cardholder to make purchases which are paid for by the card issuer, to whom the cardholder becomes indebted. The cardholder is obligated to repay the debt to the card issuer in full by the due date, usually on a monthly basis, or be subject to late fees and restrictions on further card use.
Though the terms charge card and credit card are sometimes used interchangeably, they are distinct protocols of financial transactions. Credit cards are revolving credit instruments that do not need to be paid in full every month. There is no late fee payable so long as the minimum payment is made at specified intervals

 

[probus]

I agree with mayitafusa that the term "charge card": has pretty much passed out of use. I haven't heard it for many years. Nowadays it's just a brusque "debit?" or "credit?"

 

[emsr2d2]

In the UK, several shops issue their own charge cards. M&S (Marks & Spencer), a national department store issues the "M&S Card". You can only use it to buy items from M&S but it works like a credit card in that you must pay the actual bill on that card within about 5 weeks or you start to incur penalties/interest charges. At one time, it had to be paid off within about 5 weeks. If not, they could take you to court and withdraw your card. These days, you can allow your payments to run on whilst still adding more shopping to your card. You have to pay them something every month but it doesn't have to be the full amount owing. The fact that you can only use it in one shop makes it a "store charge card", not a "credit card".