Credit Card History
The concept of using a credit card came to be by Edward Bellamy in his 1887 novel Looking Backward. He wrote about a person having a credit card and making purchases such as we do today.
However it was initially used as one of the modes of payment for selling gas to the burgeoning population of vehicle owners in the United States of America during the 1920's. These cards were then called as charge cards and soon enough several companies permitted the use of various cards. Earlier days it was easy to fake a credit card, as most of them were printed on some kind of card, unlike the plastics which we use today.
Another type of credit card that appeared in the 1930s and 1940s is the Charga-plate. The credit card was made of a small piece of metal and had the owners name, city of residence, and the state in which the person resided imprinted into it. The Charga-plates were most of the time kept in a store and only large retailers made use of these, and they only issued them to their everyday clients.
The Diners Club was founded in 1950 by Frank X. McMcNamara and Ralph Schneider. The club card allowed people to use it instead of various other cards. The Diners Club card required payment in full each month, unlike the credit cards of today. Instead of being a credit card as we know it in 2009, it was like running a monthly tab which had to be paid at the end of the month.
Next, Carte Blanche arrived on the scene, closely followed by American Express in 1958. A worldwide credit card system came into being as a result of American Express. In addition, Visa was born in 1958, making its debut as Bank of America's BankAmericard. In 1966, MasterCharge appeared and its name was later changed to MasterCard.
The US bank system made it possible for people traveling to use credit cards in various places across the country, since they could not access their home banks.
The U.K. was the first country to release the credit card in 1966. Other countries were not still agreed to it, as reliability and security of it was also in question and people also were giving their preferences to cash payments.
Embedded microchips are a recent technological advance that has helped reduce credit card fraud. Affinity cards that are connected to certain companies or groups are another new innovation.
Usually,when your earning increases you are more able to return debt of your credit card which ultimately lead you to increase use of the credit card.
However it was initially used as one of the modes of payment for selling gas to the burgeoning population of vehicle owners in the United States of America during the 1920's. These cards were then called as charge cards and soon enough several companies permitted the use of various cards. Earlier days it was easy to fake a credit card, as most of them were printed on some kind of card, unlike the plastics which we use today.
Another type of credit card that appeared in the 1930s and 1940s is the Charga-plate. The credit card was made of a small piece of metal and had the owners name, city of residence, and the state in which the person resided imprinted into it. The Charga-plates were most of the time kept in a store and only large retailers made use of these, and they only issued them to their everyday clients.
The Diners Club was founded in 1950 by Frank X. McMcNamara and Ralph Schneider. The club card allowed people to use it instead of various other cards. The Diners Club card required payment in full each month, unlike the credit cards of today. Instead of being a credit card as we know it in 2009, it was like running a monthly tab which had to be paid at the end of the month.
Next, Carte Blanche arrived on the scene, closely followed by American Express in 1958. A worldwide credit card system came into being as a result of American Express. In addition, Visa was born in 1958, making its debut as Bank of America's BankAmericard. In 1966, MasterCharge appeared and its name was later changed to MasterCard.
The US bank system made it possible for people traveling to use credit cards in various places across the country, since they could not access their home banks.
The U.K. was the first country to release the credit card in 1966. Other countries were not still agreed to it, as reliability and security of it was also in question and people also were giving their preferences to cash payments.
Embedded microchips are a recent technological advance that has helped reduce credit card fraud. Affinity cards that are connected to certain companies or groups are another new innovation.
Usually,when your earning increases you are more able to return debt of your credit card which ultimately lead you to increase use of the credit card.
About the Author:
Jason Asthworth is the content syndicator for applyforvisacreditcardnow.com the leading resource credit cards and applying for a visa credit card.
posted by Credit Counseling at
11:57 AM
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