BizBasics: ‘Credit Card Sense’

The credit card: A key to access the financial mainstream or an omnipresent temptation? It’s convenient and can protect us from theft, even provide cash if necessary. But research shows that we’re inclined to spend more when paying with a credit card than we would with cash, and those who only pay the minimum balance due on a card purchase can end up paying more than twice the original price of the product. Darden Professor Greg Fairchild provides advice on how to make the credit card work for the consumer, rather than the other way around.

The BizBasics video series, created by the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, is designed to explain basic business concepts and common business buzz words.

About the Expert

Gregory B. Fairchild

Associate Dean for Washington, D.C., Area Initiatives and Academic Director of Public Policy and Entrepreneurship; Isidore Horween Research Professor of Business Administration

Fairchild is an expert in business strategy, business ethics, leadership and entrepreneurship. He specializes in underserved, overlooked markets and has taught financial literacy to victims of domestic violence, and has launched a program to teach entrepreneurship and business skills to inmates re-entering society.

Fairchild was named one of the 10 Best Business School Professors in the World by CNNMoney/Fortune in 2012 and one of the 50 Best Business School Professors by Poets & Quants. He was the lead investigator in a study of business models and public policy issues in the field of community development finance, an initiative supported by a $850,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

B.S., Virginia Commonwealth University; MBA, University of Virginia Darden School of Business; M.Phil., Ph.D., Columbia University

Professor Fairchild teaches in the Executive Education program The Women’s Leadership Program.

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