Credit card history and future

                                                                                         

Money sets the world in motion. It guides, motivates, inspires and tempts. It 

is the driving force for one’s living or it is often the reason for death 

too. The power of money cannot be explained. It can fairly be overwhelmed.

As technology made an entry in to human life, situations began to change. You 

need not carry a pocket full of notes and walk around scared of theft. The other 

side- you also need not demean yourself when your colleague asks for a hundred-rupee 

note and you rummage around. You can very well say you don’t have change 

as you carry a credit card! Not a penny you are required to carry along if you 

have a colorful plastic card safe in your purse, if at all you prefer the standard 

shops in your city.

Credit cards made the first entry in the 1920’s in the United States 

first in the automobile industry. But the method of accepting credit cards by 

merchants was first used in 1950, a fabulous invention of Frank X. McNamara. 

The purpose behind his invention was to consolidate multiple cards. 

The first universal credit card was introduced by Diners Club, Inc. which could 

be used by a variety of stores and businesses. An annual fee was imposed on 

the credit card holders and billing was done on a monthly or yearly basis. Then 

the American Express established another universal card.

American Express was followed by Bank of America which introduced a product 

that eventually evolved in to the visa system. This set its base in California 

and then it was licensed to other states in 1966 and was renamed visa in 1976. 

The same year witnessed the introduction of the Mastercard through Mastercharge 

issued by a group of credit issuing banks.

• The feasibilty credit cards ensured for travellers.


• The provision of moving credits to other places.


• The advantage of using credit cards when banking facility was not available.

Now different variations are available in credit cards as number of other financial 

institutions are also offering credit card options along with banks. The different 

variations include branded credit cards, corporate cards, store cards and so 

on.

The credit card issued by an authority, normally by a bank, 

can be used for purchases from merchants who accept the credit card up that 

goes up to the limit of purchase. Once the purchase is over, then the card holder 

has to make a notice of consent to pay the respected amount. Now the electronic 

verification systems help merchants to verify the credit card status, that the 

respective card has enough balance and also the validity.

The credit card holder will be sent a detailed statement regarding the payments 

for the month and the owed amount must be necessarily paid before the due date. 

Interest will be issued by the credit provider for the user to pay and these 

rates will differ from card to card.

Some allow to purchase through net or phone and these transactions are done 

by giving the credit card number provided on the card. 

Despite the great benefits and feasibility credit cards offer, there are great 

chances for fraudulent practices especially when the card is stolen and the 

money transaction happens in no time. 

Most of the fraud techniques are done through the internet mainly by copying 

information from retailers. There are also instances of hackers getting information 

from major companies. Some employees of big companies are also reported to be 

selling information regarding credit card details to people outside.

• Shop in a way that best fits your needs and not more.


• Before the real acceptance of the card, all the terms and conditions must
  be understood.


• Hold on to receipts to reconcile charges when the bill arrives.


• The card and account numbers should be kept safe.


• Carry only the cards that needed most.

The darker side of credit cards are credit card debt which is a situation were 

someone does not pay the amount already used. This is a serious concern among 

the American families who owe debt over $7000 just on credit cards. If the card 

charges an average of 18%, then an interest rate of $105 would strike them each 

month. This explores the seriousness of the situation.

Mainly debt happens because of over expenditure. There is a common tendency 

among people to spend more than what they eventually earn. This is a method 

of procrastination whereby people think of meeting the financial crisis later 

than worrying about it today. This rises tremendously which result in an over 

burden in the future.

It is always better to avoid debt problems rather than creating more problems 

in the future. The debt issues should be resolved as early as possible avoiding 

the possibility of further complications and over burden of debt. 

The statistics shows overwhelming results in the near future about the credit 

problems in America. The U.S. National Debt clock gives a structured data on 

the outstanding public debt as on the 25th of December 2005. It shows that among 

the estimated population of 298,075,374, each citizen’s share of debt 

would come up to $27,434.84. It also shows that the national debt has continued 

to increase an average of $2.83 billion per day since september 30, 2005.

Thus the future of credit cards cannot be foreseen, even when different opinions 

about it clash. With the growth of technology, and newer innovations in the 

field of credit cards, it would not become a rich man’s tool. The pace 

with which mobile phones changed our life and life styles is an instance and 

a positive sign on how credit cards are going to change the next generation.

We can make assumptions- credit cards will probably change the face and pace 

of the world.

About the author:
Devi sri is a seo copywriter for debt settlement company as well. She has involved herself in this field for more than 3 years. For further details related to the article you can visit the site http://www.debt-settlement-company.com. You can contact her through mail at devisrimari@gmail.com

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