Difference between a charge card and a credit card?
 

Is there a diff?

Wirelessly posted (goingaway's phone: SAMSUNG-SGH-I607/UCHA1 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 6.12))

i believe the answer is yes and it is that the charge card is balance pd in full versus credit which can retain a balance each month

is there an eg of a charge card?

Some American Express cards are still charge cards, while many are credit cards (and some are charge cards with the ability to "pay over time"):

http://www201.americanexpress.com/ap.../b/12&us_nu=dd

If one pays the bills in full each month when they come in, these effectively are the same. If one doesn't pay in full, that's when the differences in fees and interest rate calculations start to come into play . . .

The major charge cards in America are:

American Express Green, Gold, Platinum, or Centurion
Diners Club or Carte Blance

However in many cases these cards also have a revolving account that can be used at the cardholders discretion.

Even when a charge card offers some provision for paying over time, it's not the same as with a credit card.

A credit card shows a minimum payment amount each month, and as long as you pay that you're not considered in default.

A charge card requires you to "pay" in full every month. You may have an option to "pay" by transferring to a credit account, but it's likely to require manual intervention, and there may be limits on how much you can do this. And the next month, you're once again required to pay in full every month. With a charge card, the "pay over time" option is there for an unusually high-spend month, not for building up a balance as you continue to pay just minimums each month. (The credit balance part may have a minimum each month, but the new charges are still due in full.)

Basically view the "pay over time" option on a charge as being like a balance transfer, expect at horrible interest rate. ("Teaser" rates for balance transfer are only ever available if the balance transfer is from another bank, while the integrated "pay over time" feature of a charge card is of course at the same bank as the charge card itself.)

... Of course you can (and usually should) treat any credit card as if it were a charge card (only by paying in full every statement before the date due do you avoid interest rates, and interest rates tend to more than wipe out any miles or points or cashback savings the card might have). But in the case a credit card that's not how the banks want you to use it (they love charging you interest!), it's something you have to choose to do yourself.