A Short History of the Credit Card

Common enough in today's consumer world, the credit card in its earlier form was first created by a fictional writer in 1887. Edward Bellamy, the author of "Looking Backward", mentions the "credit card" in the context of a utopian and socialist American society of the near future. His hero falls into a hypnotic, time traveling trance and is whisked forward through time a full century, ending up in Boston in the year 2000, a place where, much to his delight he is able to make a purchase using a commonly held card. Credit, however, evolved long long before the concept of carrying it around in card form. Credit and debt have been the driving force behind achievements ranging from a man working his way out of debt to a landholder, to Kevin Smith creating Clerks.

The invention of widespread use was not until the 1920's. At that point in time it was not recognizable as the powerful buying tool it is in today's world. It's use was fragmented, very often tied to a specific merchant rather than specific banks or "lenders" as it is today. Later, carrying and using a one was simply a way of being able to use your money when you were away from your bank, a common use that debit cards have largely absorbed today.