What does National Issuers mean?

Regarding the field of credit cards related terminology the national issuers (banking institutions) are the ones which do release credit cards in all of the states of the US. On the other hand, there are the regional issuers which make release of credit cards being available only on their area of operation, that is, regionally. Among the most popular national issuers one can mention the Bank of America, MBNA Bank and First USA.

Although there is some controversy regarding which is the most “convenient” type of credit: whereas the national issuers are more popular and trustworthy institutions but they will not easily forgive a late payment, by charging higher than a regional issuer. The regional issuers may be more flexible in their criteria, as these have no such huge operating area as a national issuer has.