Fyi, vast majority of those are co-branded cards which means they are underwritten by a bank. Examples:

- Amazon VISA card is underwritten by Chase Bank

- Costco VISA card is underwritten by Citi Bank

If you look closely on the Pep Boys card, you'll see who the bank issuer is.

It's different from the old days of mom&pop grocery stores running their own ledger of customer accounts. The grocery store was the actual lender of credit. With co-branded credit cards, it's the bank and not the retailer that's lending money for customers to buy merchandise.