Your cardmembership is worth a great deal if you value the confidence and security you enjoy whenever you travel or entertain. But consider something else: the cost of credit cards versus the convenience of charge cards.

    Charge cards bill their cardmembers an annual fee. Credit cards, such as those issued by banks, usually do not and often impose an annual finance charge on all unpaid balances. This differs from state to state and from bank to bank. The difference between the established annual cardmembership fee and the amount of money the bank card member will actually pay in finance charges at year's end will determine the true cost of any cardmembership.

     From the chart below you can quickly determine what you might actually pay for a bank card in one year if you maintain a payable monthly balance. For example, if your unpaid balance averages $200 a month, and the finance charge is 18 percent, you would be paying $36 per year in finance charges. Suddenly these credit cards are costing you more than the Card's annual fee. And do the services they provide equal those of the Card?

     We believe they do not. Because the Card does more than just provide you with a convenient way to pay for your purchases, it literally pays for itself, time and time again.