The Rise of Payment Cards
The History and Structure of a Consumer Credit Innovation
Payment card use has grown dramatically since the introduction of cards in the beginning of the twentieth century. Hotels, oil companies, and department stores issued cards associated with charge accounts before World War I. In 1950, Diners Club established the first general purpose charge card that allowed its cardholders to purchase goods and services from many different merchants. In the late 1950s, Bank of America began offering the BankAmericard, one of the first general purpose credit cards. Unlike charge cards that require the balance to be paid in full each month, credit cards allow cardholders to make purchases up to…
