DINERS CLUB

The first independent credit card was the Diners Club card. In 1950, a guy from New York City, Frank MacNamara, passed out 200 of them to his associates (mostly sales people who took customers out to eat) and signed up 14 restaurants who agreed to accept them. By the end of one year, 20,000 people had them and 1,000 restaurants accepted the cards. Prior to this, all charge cards were strictly for use in the stores that issued them. What a thing they started!