The first bank that issued consumer credit cards was National Bank of Brooklyn in New York. The program named “Charge-It” was introduced by John Biggins in 1946. However, at that time cardholders dealt with charge accounts and only selected stores accepted this form of payment. Still, the card that can be used at various merchants appeared only in 1950.

The underlying reasons of this event are really interesting. The famous supper of three friends, Franc McNamara, Alfred Bloomingdale and Ralph Sneider, took place at a famous New York restaurant next to the Empire State Building.

Franc McNamara was the head of the Hamilton Credit Corporation, and they discussed the problems of one of the clients. This particular customer had borrowed a certain sum but could not pay it back.
Amazing is the fact that right after this meal, McNamara wanted to pay for the dinner and discovered that he had forgotten his wallet. He was embarrassed and had to call his wife and ask her to bring him money. McNamara made a vow that such cases would never happen again. The novelty of his idea was to introduce a card that would be accepted at multiple locations.