Credit Cards

[Jesus_Malverde]

Who was the person (or group) that first came up with the idea of credit cards? How did they get it started? Just wondering…

[TBone2]

Diner’s Club? It’s the first one I remember…

[Duckster]

In 1950, Diners Club and American Express launched their charge cards in the USA, the first “plastic money”. In 1951, Diners Club issued the first credit card to 200 customers who could use it at 27 restaurants in New York. But it was only until the establishment of standards for the magnetic strip in 1970 that the credit card became part of the information age.

Source: http://www.didyouknow.cd/creditcards.htm

[TBone2]

Jeez, I’m showing my age again…

Well, it’s nice to be correct once in a while.

[yabob]

Well, actually, it’s debateable, and depends on how you define the terms. Diner’s Club issued the first card accepted at a variety of retailers. Charge cards issued by particular businesses for use in their stores have existed since the turn of the 20th century:

http://www.creditcardprocessingsite.com/history.html

[hardygrrl]

Yabob and Duckster are both correct.

Diners Club was the first (somewhat)universally accepted credit card - good at any merchant who would accept it.

The usage of credit at individual merchants has gone on for centuries. Allowing people to “run up a tab” has been a long applied concept. There may not have been an actual card, but the theory of “buy now, pay later” was in place.