"Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior. " - Dee Hock, Founder and Former CEO of VISA International

Dee hock is a personal hero of mine in the card world.  Not only did he conceive of the National Bank Company, IBANCO for Bank of America, but he understood for his concept to reach its full potential he had to convince BofA to give up on the proprietary differentiator and let Dee take the brand and network to other banks.  I would have loved to have been on the wall for those conversations.

But the Credit market started much earlier then this.  As a matter of fact Texaco Gas Company was the first to issue a credit card in the 1890’s.  Apparently traveling salesmen who began using cars to expand their territories and sales, you could imagine there weren’t too many cars or roads, so criminals began targeting them, robbing them of the cash on hand.  A Texaco Card reduced the need to have cash on hand and was a way to help customers.

Then came the store cards; Macy’s, Federated and the biggest of them all Sears.  These cards were tremendously popular and a great product.  The only limiting factor was that you couldn’t use your Sears card at the gas station, grocery store or other retailers good for business not as good for customers.

The first true general purpose card was the Diners Club card.  The story goes; a New York businessman who entertained at restaurants often was out with clients at lunch.  When the bill came he went to write a check but was out.  Unknown to the manager a big deal was made and this businessman was embarrassed. 

Feb. 8 1950 Frank MacNamara started Diners Club.  This launched what would become the T&E industry – travel and entertainment.  There success spurred American Express to begin issuing general purpose cards in 1958 providing a national general purpose card.  Later that year Bank of America launched their proprietary card.  In 1966 MasterCard entered the picture and changed the game forever – due to partnerships and mergers MasterCard was forced to be the brand and network for multiple Banks.  What they fell into was the power of multiple banks as a distribution channel and MC grew rapidly.  So much so that in 1975 the old Bank Americard program became VISA.  The last major entrant was Discover in 1985 – introduced by Sears.