Monday, January 19, 2009

The History of Credit Cards

By Jason Asthworth

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

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.

When Ralph Schneider and Frank X. McNamara established Diners Club in 1950, they created a unique card. Unlike other credit cards, the Diners Club card gave people the freedom to use one card instead of multiple cards. Also, while you can pay only a portion of your bill on other credit cards, the Diners Club has to be paid in full each and every 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 Bank Americard. MasterCard came into the world in 1966 and it was first known as MasterCharge.

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.

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. - 16492

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