The Credit card (Long distance trade and Colonies)

Topic

The Credit card (Long distance trade and Colonies)

Instructions 

The CREDIT CARD is an object from the British museum.

Develop a narrative of the enterprise and entrepreneurship of the time and about the CREDIT CARD. Provide historical, cultural and civilizational background to develop your case.

Given this, write TWO separate essays with the following titles:

1. “The Credit card: Long distance trade and Colonies” – 2000 Words
2. “Credit card: Commercial meaning and entrepreneurship of the era” – 2000 Words.

Answer Preview 

The payment system used in trade has evolved over the last 11 decades. During the period, business transactions took the form of cash and checks before the advent of proprietary charge card in the 90s. Another major development during this period was the travel and entertainment cards, among others. The general feature in these cards is that they lacked the “credit” aspect. The general purpose cards came into the consumer transaction in late between late 1950s and 1966 (“BBC – A History of the World”, 2010). In 1950, Frank McNamara, a customer at Majors’ Cabin Grill discovered that he forgot his wallet after attending a business dinner (Schmalbruch, 2015). As he could not pay for the dinner, he proposed a cardboard card as a sign of obligation to pay. Eventually, the Diner Club card was developed.  According to Schmalbruch, the Dinner Club Card’s use was for entertainment and travel. Customers could make purchases on credit, but they had to settle the bills by the end of the month. After one of its inception, Diner Club Card attracted over 20,000 customers who found it as a convenient way of transaction.

Word Count: 2300