Life without credit cards is unimaginable. It’s a payment system that has revolutionized the way the consumers and the service providers such as the hospitality and the retail industry communicate. As the name suggests, this plastic card provides with funds on credit for stuff that you may want to buy.

Way back in 1887, an American author and socialist, Edward Bellamy spoke about buying commodities with a card in his novel, ‘Looking Backward’.

In 1914, US-based Western Union introduced a ‘metal card’ for select customers with an ‘interest-free period’. General Petroleum Corporation followed in 1924. This system of payment became so popular that during the 1920s and 1930s, it spread to other companies such as railroad, hotel chains, airline, oil companies and department stores.

The 1930s saw the launch of the ‘Bell System’ credit card by the American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) Company.

One card that changed the face of credit card and gave it the ‘global avatar’ was the Diner’s card. The credit card, launched in 1950 could be used for avail of general services, unlike its predecessors.

(more…)