Cardholder

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What is a Cardholder?

A cardholder is a person who owns a credit or debit card.

Cardholder Explained

A cardholder is any person who has a credit or debit card. This person has their name embossed or printed on the card and is authorized to use it. They are also responsible for paying the credit card bill and managing the account the card is linked to.

The cardholder is the person who uses the card to make purchases. There might be one or more additional authorized users for a particular card. Someone is considered a cardholder whether they use their card in person, over the phone, or online.

If you have a credit or debit card, you’re a cardholder. When you sign up for a credit card account, you sign a cardholder agreement. You agree to terms such as paying your bill on time. If you don’t pay on time, your issuer may charge late fees. You can pay your entire bill or a minimum amount.

If you don’t pay the total amount you owe for a particular month, you’ll be charged interest. Your interest rate is outlined in your cardholder agreement. Card issuers calculate interest as an APR or annual percentage rate.

If your card is a Visa or Mastercard, a bank probably issued it to you. This bank is called an issuing bank. If you have a Discover or American Express, it might have been issued directly by those companies or by a bank. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover are also called card brands or card associations.

When you use your card at a store, the store is also called a merchant in credit card processing terms. Cardholders, issuing banks, card brands, and merchants are just some of the players that make up the credit card processing industry.

Cardholder Examples

Susie has two credit cards, which are a Visa card and a Discover card. She also has a Visa-branded debit card that her local credit union issued. Having these cards makes Susie a cardholder.

Susie uses her credit cards to buy items in stores and over the internet.

She uses her Visa credit card for most daily purchases. Her Discover card is a rewards card. With this card, she earns rewards on certain types of purchases that rotate each quarter. She makes sure to use her Discover card for any purchases that will earn rewards.

Susie uses her debit card to get cash from ATMs. She also sometimes uses it for other transactions.

Phillip, Susie’s husband, is an authorized user of her Discover card. He’s also considered a cardholder on this card. He has a physical card with the same credit card number that Susie has.

Because Susie is the primary cardholder, she is responsible for making payments on the account, even when Phillip makes purchases.

Most months, Susie pays her entire credit card bill for each credit card. One month, she has some unusual expenses and only pays the minimum amount. Her minimum fee is $25 for her Visa card and $35 for her Discover card.

Susie signed up for her Discover card 13 months ago. Her agreement included an 18-month introductory period with a 0% APR. She doesn’t have to pay any interest for this card.

For Susie’s Visa, her APR is 14.54%. Her unpaid balance for this month is $600. Susie will have to pay $87.24, which is her balance of $600 times her interest rate of 14.54%.

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