Brief History Of The Charge Card

Since debt-fueled fiat money expansion is germane to the gold bull, I'm including this brief timeline showing the history of the first charge card: Diner's Club. It's been webbed by the Globe and Mail.

Diner's Club, then being a charge card, required the holder to pay the balance at the end of the month. (So was the American Express card back in the days of old.) Frank McNamara invented the first charge card, but another fellow came up with the first credit card.

Mike Phillips got the idea when he was still with Bank of America. Originally known as the BankAmeriCard, it quickly became MasterCharge and now MasterCard. Through one of the market's ironies, the later entrant (Visa) became the dominant name.

Mr. Phillips actually "dropped out," and became a member of a hippie-type commune. Along with his buds, one of which sported the name "Jug O' Candles," he threw together the "Seven Laws of Money" in the 1970s. They're here on this Webpage.