A History of Credit Cards
Over a relatively short period of time, credit cards have moved from being a rarity to become an essential part of everyday life for many people. The story began back in 1951 with the launch of Diners Club, but it was only in the 1970s and 80s that the pace of growth began to pick up.
By the time the internet started to become widespread in the 1990s, the credit card market was poised to explode in popularity, with heavy competition amongst issuers leading to many innovations in the kind of cards offered.
Below, we set out some of the major landmarks in the development of credit cards as we know them today.
| 1951 | Diners Club launch the first credit card, which is accepted at 27 New York restaurants. Initially, only 200 cards were issued |
| 1958 | American Express issues its first charge card, and within 5 years over 1 million cards were in use |
| 1958 | Joseph P. Williams invents the first multi-purpose credit card, BankAmericard, which he developed while working at the Bank of America |
| 1966 | Fourteen US banks join forces to form the Interlink card payment processor as a rival to BankAmericard. Interlink ultimately evolved into todays's Mastercard |
| 1967 | Barclay's launch their Barclaycard, the UK's first general credit card |
| 1972 | RBS, NatWest, Lloyds and Midland partner to issue the Access credit card |
| 1977 | BankAmericard becomes Visa |
| 1977 | The first UK business credit card (as opposed to personal) is launched by Barclaycard |
| 1979 | MasterCharge changes its name to become Mastercard |
| 1980s | The decade saw the gradual move towards UK banks issuing Mastercard and Visa cards, and the breaking up of alliances such as Access. This process means that cards issued by UK banks can now be used internationally |
| 1987 | Debit cards are introduced in the UK as Barclays launch their Connect Visa Delta card |
| 1988 | The Switch debit card is launched by Midland, NatWest and RBS, who later spin the operation off into a seperate company allowing other banks to use the system |
| 1990 | A forerunner of Chip and PIN technology is introduced in France |
| 1992 | MasterCard launches its international debit card under the Maestro brand |
| 1996 | Goldfish launch the first UK credit card loyalty scheme, with Goldfish Points earned on purchases which could be redeemed for vouchers to spend at selected high street stores |
| 1997 | Alliance & Leicester introduces the concept of Cash Back, by launching a credit card that gives money back on purchases |
| 1999 | Figures show that half of all UK adults now hold at least one credit card. |
| 1999 | Internet-only card issuers including Egg, Smile, and Marbles are launched, the first UK cards to be operated online from application onwards |
| 2000 | Egg comes up with the balance transfer marketing wheeze, offering 0% on transfers for six months - the first such offer in the UK |
| 2000 | Accucard, an independent UK card issuer, launches the innovative 'build your own' credit card where you can combine the features that matter to you |
| 2002 | Planned UK adoption of Chip and PIN confirmed by the major banks and clearance systems |
| 2002 | Banking giant Lloyds TSB buys Accucard, forming Create services, which begins to develop a range of branded 'build your own' credit cards in partnership with insurers, retailers, and many other companies |
| 2003 | Figures show that more than half of UK adults now regularly use debit cards, while the average number of credit card accounts per adult is now more than two. |
| 2003 | UK Chip and PIN trials begin in Northampton. |
| 2004 | HBoS launch the MoneyBack card, first debit card to feature a cashback program |
| 2004 | Rollout of Chip and PIN begins in earnest, with a completion date of 2005 |
| 2005 | Vanquis, part of the Provident Financial group, receive a flurry of media attention following the launch of their 69.9% APR credit card aimed at people with bad credit ratings |
