Swipe Right for Amusement: Top 6 Fun Facts About Credit You Never Knew!

1. Charge It to My Metal

Once upon a late-1800s shopping spree, a sophisticated charge coin user walked into a department store and exclaimed, "Charge it to my metal, good sir!": The curious world of credit started over 150 years ago with customers using charge coins, eventually evolving into paper cards and metal charga-plates, until Diners Club introduced the modern credit card in 1949, followed by American Express in 1958 and Bank Americard in 1959 – forever changing the way we shop and leave our wallets at home!
Source => linkedin.com

2. Cardboard Credit Cards

Back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and people read newspapers, our ancestors had a revolutionary idea for shopping - and it didn't involve a cave-dwelling Amazon.com: The first credit cards were actually made of cardboard and invented in 1950 by Frank X. McNamara, who founded Diner's Club. Despite being deemed as promoting "sloth and laziness," by the 1960s banks began issuing credit cards to new account holders, and eventually these cardboard wonders evolved into today's high-tech magnetic strip and virtual smartphone-enabled cards.
Source => nytimes.com

Did you know the world's first multi-purpose charge card was introduced in the 1950s by Diners Club? It allowed elite New York members to enjoy 28 classy eateries and two swanky hotels, while also paving the way for travel insurance perks and corporate card options. Discover more fascinating credit card history!

=> Fun Facts about Credit-Cards

3. The Scrooge McDuck of Credit Cards

With a wallet so fat it could double as a seat cushion, Walter Cavanagh has become a veritable Scrooge McDuck of the credit card world: Boasting the Guinness World Record for the most active credit card accounts - 1,497 to be precise - Walter's prodigious plastic power does have a catch, as holding too many cards can actually drag down your credit score due to the decrease in average age of accounts and potential lapsed payments or high credit usage.
Source => moneymanagement.org

4. Dine and Dash with Diners Club

Frank McNamara took "dine and dash" to a whole new level when he invented the world's first charge-without-the-charged-guilt card, so folks could eat now, pay later: In 1950, he introduced the Diners Club Card, which racked up 10,000 well-fed members in its first year, two hotels, and 28 restaurants embracing the whole delayed-payment shebang. The card reached peak cool in the 1960s when Audrey Hepburn flashed it in "Breakfast at Tiffany's", went corporate in the '70s, and started rewarding spenders in the '80s. Now, it's exclusive to BMO Financial Group's clients in the U.S. and Canada – keeping the upper crust well-fed and worry-free.
Source => dinersclubus.com

5. Dutch Debit Card Dance

In the land of windmills, tulips, and wooden shoes, a curious financial aversion blossoms: Dutch merchants are fans of the "debit card dance", preferring to cha-cha with Maestro over mamboing with Mastercard. The serious reveal: Many stores in the Netherlands opt for debit card transactions, sometimes rejecting credit cards, because credit fees cost more and the Dutch people are typically debt-averse. But come mid-2023, Maestro debit cards will bid adieu, making way for Visa Debit and Debit Mastercards to pump up the jam in their place.
Source => dutchreview.com

6. France's Silicon Secret Agents

Once upon an 80's crime-thriller, our French protagonist grinned when they uncovered Carte Bancaire's sneaky plan to slip a silicon secret agent into the wallets of millions, foiling fraudsters and providing proper purchasing power: In 1986, France's Carte Bancaire debuted the first chip and PIN card, featuring a silicon integrated circuit chip for improved security and offline transaction control, setting the global standard for payment cards today.
Source => thalesgroup.com