Abstract: This article reviews existing evidence on the Canadian credit card market, focusing on three issues: the financial health of cardholders who carry revolving debt, the effects of competition in the payment market, and the implications of credit cards for economic inequality. While revolving balances are often interpreted as signs of financial distress, available evidence points to a more nuanced picture. The article then examines how network externalities shape competition among card networks and evaluates the effectiveness of recent Canadian regulatory efforts. Finally, it reviews the literature on the relationship between credit cards and inequality, emphasizing that any assessment of their welfare effects should account not only for rewards, interest, and fees, but also for their value as a source of unsecured credit.