Search by Type Of Card
- Low Interest Credit Cards
- 0% Intro APR Cards
- Balance Transfer Cards
- Instant Approval Cards
- Reward Credit Cards
- Cash Back Credit Cards
- Airline Credit Cards
- Business Credit Cards
- Student Credit Cards
- Prepaid & Debit Cards
- Credit Card Specials
- Secured Card
- Guaranteed Approval Cards
- Catalog Cards
- Gas Rebate
- List All Cards
Search by Credit Quality
Search by Bank or Issuer
- Chase
- Capital One
- American Express
- Citi Credit Cards
- Discover
- First Premier Bank
- HSBC Bank
- Applied Bank
- New Millennium Bank
- Iberia Bank
- MetaBank
- Barclays Bank Delaware
- Simmons First
- Vision Prepaid
- Horizon Bank
- Columbus Bank & Trust Company
- Other Issuers
News and Advice
Current Interest Rates
- Update: 05-22-2012
- 12.65% National Average
- 12.88% Low Interest
- 23.00% Reward
- 12.99% Student
- 12.99% Bad Credit
- 17.33% Business
- 14.49% Cash Back
- 14.49% Instant Approval
Follow Us On
Facebook
Twitter
RSS Feed
Glossary and terms about credit cardsHome » Credit Card Glossary
Carbon-Paper Packets
Carbon paper is papercoated on one side with a layer of a loosely bound dry ink or pigmented coating, usually bound with wax. It is used for making one or more copies simultaneous with the creation of an original document. Ii's used In the early days of credit cards, sales were transacted by using carbon-paper packets that fit into a simple sliding device called a zip-zap machine. The card would be put face-up in the zip-zap, a carbon-paper packet of alternating paper and carbon paper would be placed over it, and the tight-fitting slide would be run over both of them. The pressure of the slide would create an impression of the credit card number on the papers -- one for the customer, one for the merchant, one for the merchant's bank. Today, such transactions are rare; most are handled by electronic card readers that take the card information via its magnetic stripe.