From the CreditExpert newsletter..... "In 1914, Western Union provided a deferred-payment service to its most sound customers. It wasn't until 1950 that the first real "credit card" was issued. This card could be used in a number of different locations. Early credit cards required payment in full in less than 90 days. In 1951 Franklin National Bank in New York introduced the first modern credit card to its customers. They extended the repayment period and attached and interest rate creating a new revenue stream" Just kinda neat to see how the whole thing started.... Shawn
Very interesting indeed. Does anyone remember "charge plates" which had numbers embossed in metal? That's where the embossed numbers on our present credit cards came from. They're totally unnecessary now. I don't remember charge plates, but apparently they lasted until the mid-60's. My parents showed me an old charge plate. From Penney's, I believe.
Credit was first used in Assyria, Babylon and Egypt 3000 years ago. The bill of exchange - the forerunner of banknotes - was established in the 14th century. Debts were settled by one-third cash and two-thirds bill of exchange. Paper money followed only in the 17th century. The first advertisement for credit was placed in 1730 by Christopher Thornton, who offered furniture that could be paid off weekly. From the 18th century until the early part of the 20th, tallymen sold clothes in return for small weekly payments. They were called "tallymen" because they kept a record or tally of what people had bought on a wooden stick. One side of the stick was marked with notches to represent the amount of debt and the other side was a record of payments. In the 1920s, a shopper's plate - a "buy now, pay later" system - was introduced in the USA. It could only be used in the shops which issued it. 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.
Chargeplates I remember as a kid my Mom and Dad whipping out their metal chargeplates. Seems I recall a Penny's (as it was called back then; not JCPenney, with 2 'e's), also a Belk Department Store. They were a kind of grey metal like burnished steel. But, does anyone remember their parent's saying "just put it on my account"? As I recall, we never had an actual card or chargeplate for a lot of stores. Out account was simply kept on file at the store itself. There was never even a statement sent out. This included Sears.
Re: Chargeplates As for Diner's Club, I read that originally it was just a paper card. I'm not sure when they converted to plastic.
