The British credit card system developed largely in the wake of the American credit card system. Credit cards began in the United States with the issuance of department store and gasoline cards. What is known as the credit card industry, however, really began to develop with the introduction of travel and entertainment cardsùDiners Club, American Express, and Carte Blancheùin the late-1940s and early-1950s. American travel and entertainment cards were introduced into Britain in the 1950s.
General purpose credit cards, the backbone of the credit card industry, were introduced in the United States in the early-1960s. General purpose credit cards are those which, as their name implies, may be used to pay for a wide variety of goods and services in a wide variety of establishments. A major difference between general purpose credit cards and travel and entertainment cards is the revolving credit feature of the general purpose cards. The revolving credit characteristic means that general purpose credit cards are truly credit cards, as are department store credit cards, as opposed to travel and entertainment cards and most gasoline credit cards, which are, for the most part, bill-paying conveniences. Travel and entertainment cards provide nominal 30-day credit, although dates of purchase and billing and payment cycles both narrow and stretch the nominal period.
General purpose credit cards were initially issued by commercial banks, and most such cards continue to be issued by banks through the Master Card and Visa systems. When general purpose credit cards were initially introduced in Britain in the 1960s, they were issued under franchise agreements with Master Card and Visa. The Barclay cardùthe first general purpose card introduced in Britainùis, in effect, a Visa card.
Corporate travel cards, such as the Canadian-based enRoute card, has also been introduced in Britain. Corporate travel cards may be used only to pay...