Funny credit cards survive when it’s the same thing

The difference is that credit cards are not almost exclusively sub-prime loans and are reported on the consumer's credit. Many companies have largely prime or super-prime credit portfolios, and the industry is well-developed to serve these customers (Amex makes much more money from interchange than from interest, for example, and even sub-prime borrowers have tight control over their credit portfolio).

LoanS. And most are small and very short term (4 payments). The risk from defaults isn't as worse as for a auto-loan lender, or a mortgage lender, or even a CC lender (as underwriting is done on a per-purchase base, the total amount underwritten per user is much smaller than a typical CC)