The two major forms of consumer credit are installment and noninstallment
credit. These forms can be exemplified by installment debt and credit
card debt. With an installment loan, also known as closed-end credit, the
amount borrowed must be repaid in a specific number of equal payments.
With noninstallment, also known as open-ended credit, the credit is
extended in advance of any transaction so that consumers do not have to
reapply each time credit is desired. The amount owed can be repaid in full
or through a series of equal or unequal payments, usually monthly. This
type of credit includes bank credit cards, travel and entertainment accounts,
service credit, and other charge accounts (Garman and Forgue 2000).
Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook (2000) emphasize the differences
between installment and noninstallment credit in greater depth. The credit
decision is different. Although credit card issuers obtain information
about consumers before issuing lines of credit, they make little attempt to
review the borrower’s financial status after the initial issuance of credit
except to increase the credit limit. On the other hand, the credit decision
for installment loans is likely to be more restricted, requiring more information
from consumers and taking more time to process. Also, the borrowing
decision is different. With installment loans, consumers make a
decision to take on a large amount of debt, which could put their assets
and future income at risk. In contrast, credit card debt itself is often
incurred a relatively small amount at a time so consumers do not have to
carefully assess their financial future at the moment of borrowing. In
addition, the payment schedules are different. Credit card issuers often
require a minimum monthly payment as low as 1/36 or 1/48 of the outstanding
balance. A payment such as this is mathematically guaranteed to
keep the user in debt for a long time (Garman and Forgue 2000).
When data on consumer credit use from the 1995 and 1998 Survey of
Consumer Finances were compared, there appeared to be more change in
the use of installment loans and very little change with credit card debt