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If at the beginning of the 20th era they had told people
that in less than 100 years they would begin to dominate purchases made with a
plastic card instead of cash, they simply would not have believed it; And the
fact is that the creation of this means of payment dates from a short time ago,
although today it is very common to see them in operation.
In the middle of 2021, the use of cards to receive money and
acquire things seems to be increasing. For example, the CONDUSEF informed us
that for the first quarter of this year there was a 39% increase in the use of
credit cards in online purchases referring to the same quarter of 2020 and,
even, there was a 36% increase referring to authorized amounts compared to the
same period last year.
But if we were to go back 100 years, to 1921, the people of
the vast majority of the planet were still far from hearing the term
"credit card"; This tells us how fast this payment system has evolved
and the enormous impact it has had on the global financial system; therefore,
we believe it is important to share its origin with you.
The origins of the credit card
Thinking in terms of credit can take us back to times when
commerce was carried out through barter, but the first indication of a concept
close to a credit card occurred until 1914, when Western Union created a card
that was only offered to its most special clients and that, despite not being
credit, it did give them access to certain monetary benefits and exclusive
offers that other clients could not take advantage of.
However, it was not until 1949 when the creation of the
first credit card in the name of Frank X. McNamara -owner of Hamilton Credit
Corporation- was registered who, after discussing with his lawyers how a person
had become enormously indebted after lending him money to his neighbors and not
being able to get it back on time, he wanted to pay the dinner bill and noticed
that he had forgotten his money at home. He was forced to tag his wife to bring
his wallet to the restaurant to avoid imminent embarrassment.
He was so marked by this situation that he decided to create
a card that would allow its holder to be given credit to be able to leave
without having to carry cash and that would be accepted in various
establishments. Thus, in 1950, he launched the first credit card called
“Diner's Club”, accepted in only 14 restaurants in New York City, but which in
a couple of years later, would already be used by more than 20 thousand people.
and the list of establishments that accepted it was also much larger.