Original photo by Clay Banks/ Unsplash
The modern credit card may not exist if it weren’t for a businessman who forgot his wallet more than 75 years ago. In 1949, Frank McNamara was dining with clients at Major’s Cabin Grill in New York City, when he realized he didn’t have any cash on him and couldn’t pay. Accounts differ about whether McNamara’s wife came to his rescue or he simply promised to pay the restaurant back later. In either case, he was reportedly determined never to allow this embarrassing situation to occur again and began brainstorming new ways for people to pay if they also found themselves cashless.
Oops, incorrect!
It's a factIn 2015, Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian won Modigliani’s “Nu couché” (“Reclining Nude”) at auction. Rather than pay in cash or by check, he put the entire $170.4 million purchase on his American Express card — earning millions of rewards points in the process.
With the help of lawyer Ralph Schneider, McNamara conceived of a company called the Diners Club, which issued pocket-sized cardboard credit cards featuring details such as a person’s name, address, and membership number. The idea was for members to use the cards at participating restaurants, each of which kept track of a running personal monthly tab connected to each card. While the concept of a running tab wasn’t new, this was the first card that could be used at an array of businesses instead of one establishment. At the end of each month, each eatery would tell the Diners Club how much debt was owed, and the company would collect money from its members and send the necessary amount to each restaurant, minus a processing fee.
The service made its debut on February 8, 1950, when McNamara returned to Major’s Cabin Grill for a dinner that Diners Club International now refers to as the “First Supper.” At the end of the meal, McNamara provided his charge card and signed his name, serving as proof of purchase. The Diners Club became an immediate sensation, amassing more than 330 participating businesses and 42,000 card holders within a year.
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A fear of spending money is known as chrometophobia.
Coca-Cola accepted mobile payments in the 1990s.
Though they’re commonplace today, digital payments didn’t exist before the 1990s. The first legitimate online transaction was in 1994, when someone purchased a copy of the Sting album Ten Summoner’s Tales online for $12.48 plus shipping. In 1997, Coca-Cola launched a rudimentary method of paying for products with a cellphone.
The company installed two vending machines in Helsinki, Finland, allowing customers to send payment using SMS text. The service was called “Dial-a-Coke,” and the charges were eventually added to the customer’s monthly telephone bill. The idea caught on, with just under one-third of the vending machines’ cans successfully purchased with a mobile phone. The concept later expanded to Tallinn, Estonia, by 1999 and Australia in 2001.
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism Media, and previously contributed to television programs such as "Late Show With David Letterman" and "Impractical Jokers." Bennett is also a devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
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