The History of Credit Cards

Edward Ballamy first introduced the world to the idea of the “credit card” in his 1887 novel, Looking Backward.

It was however, first used as a way of selling gas to an ever-increasing number of vehicle owners in the United States of America in the 1920s. These cards were initially known as charge cards and in time various companies allowed the use of different cards. In the early days it was quite easy to falsify a credit card, as a number of these cards were printed onto a type of card, and not plastic like they are 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.

The next card to come along was Carte Blanche and then American Express in 1958. American Express led to the creation of a global credit card system. The Visa system also came into existence in 1958 via Bank of Americas BankAmericard. MasterCard came into the world in 1966 when it was first known as MasterCharge.

With development of high security and safety in banking system in the United States of America, the credit card market rose. Travellers gained benefits of being able to use credit cards safely and easily all over the world.

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.

Credit cards are now being tested that have a microchip implanted to reduce fraud. Another type of credit card being tested is the Affinity Card. This is a co-sponsored card by the issuer and an organization that carry certain features such as discounts or cash back.

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.