Credit Card Intelligence

Credit Cards have been around for a while now. Some people can’t even live without credit cards in their hands to buy them their needs and (most of the time) wants. But do you really know who’s first idea it was to start using a credit card?

Gone are the days when people would go to a store to buy their week’s supply of goods with cash. Today, most if not 80% of consumers use Credit Cards to purchase their needs. In fact, we can safely say that Credit Card usage has become a way of life for buyers both old and the not so young.

A credit card is only an automatic way of offering credit to a consumer. Today, every credit card carries an identifying number that speeds shopping transactions. Imagine what a credit purchase would be like without it, the sales person would have to record your identity, billing address, and terms of repayment!

Now back to our question: Who Invented the first Credit Card?

Answer: Frank X. McNamara (1950)

Individual store credit accounts were already prevalent at the beginning of the 21st Century. However, a credit card that could be used at more than one merchant was not invented until 1950. It all started when Frank X. McNamara, head of the Hamilton Credit Corporation and two of his friends went out to supper.

When they were done eating supper, Frank X. McNamara reached for his pocket to pay cash. Much to his surprise, he found out that he forgot his wallet back home. Frank X. MacNamara had to call his wife to bring him his wallet and some cash. From that experience, the idea of a credit card that could be used in different establishments was born.

Thanks to Frank X. McNamara, the Credit Card was born!