• "bank cards", issued by banks: Visa, MasterCard, and Discover;
• "travel and entertainment (T&E) cards" like American Express and Diners Club;
• "house cards" that are good only at the stores of one chain. Sears is the biggest one of these, followed by the oil companies, the phone companies, and your local department stores.

T&E cards and national house cards (like Sears) have the same terms and conditions wherever you apply