A
telephone card,
calling card or
phonecard for short, is a
credit card size plastic card, used to pay for
telephone services. It is not necessary to have the physical card except with a stored-value system; knowledge of the access telephone number to dial and the PIN is sufficient. Standard cards which can be purchased and used without any sort of account facility give a fixed amount of credit and are discarded when used up;
rechargeable cards can be topped up, or collect payment in
arrears. The system for payment and the way in which the card is used to place a
telephone call vary from card to card.