Credit cards have revolutionized the purchasing experience since Diners Club released the first credit card in 1950.

It gave consumers limited credit that, at times, even surpassed their own personal savings. It allowed them to buy items they cannot usually afford with a straight cash purchase. It also provided the convenience of not needing to carry wads of dollar bills.

Thus, on the average, American households possess 4 credit cards or a total of 13 payment cards including debt cards and store cards aside from credit cards. There are, actually, 1.3 billion payment cards in circulation in the United States.

But if you think that credit cards have made the lives of modern American consumers easier, think again.

Statistics show that the average credit card debt for each household per month is $4,800. This lead to 1.3 million credit card holders declaring bankruptcy in 2003.

And if you still consider yourself unaffected by this, then consider this one: upon retirement, most Americans can only expect to receive about 37% percent of their annual retirement income because of debt payment, leaving them to depend on the government, family and charity.

That