Credit Card (English: Credit Card) is a non-cash payment method and a simple credit service. A credit card is generally a plastic card with a length of 85.60 mm, a width of 53.98 mm, and a thickness of 1 mm (the size is defined by the ISO 7810 and 7816 series of documents). It is issued to the cardholder by a bank or credit card company based on the user's creditworthiness and financial resources. Cardholders do not need to pay cash when making purchases with a credit card, and repayment will be made on the settlement date. Except for some credit cards combined with debit cards, general credit cards are different from debit cards and cash cards in that credit cards will not directly deduct funds from the user's account. On February 28, 2006, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress issued an interpretation on credit cards. The "credit card" stipulated in the Criminal Law refers to a credit card issued by a commercial bank or other financial institution that has the functions of consumer payment, credit loan, transfer settlement, cash deposit and withdrawal. Electronic payment cards with full or partial functions. Therefore, credit cards in criminal law refer to what we usually call bank cards.

Credit cards only became popular in China this century and have developed rapidly in recent years. According to relevant statistics, the number of credit cards issued in China was about 3 million in mid-2003, and reached 50 million by the end of 2006. As of June 30, 2008, the number of credit cards issued in China has soared to 122 million. .

In the past, only Chinese banks could issue credit cards in China. On December 23, 2008, Hong Kong's Bank of East Asia launched RMB credit cards in mainland China, becoming the first foreign-funded commercial bank to independently issue RMB credit cards in mainland China.