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Diner's Club Card
The Diners Club, formed in 1950 by Frank X. McNamara, Ralph Sneider
and Alfred Bloomingdale was the first independent credit card
company in the world. While many stores and businesses were in the
practice of extending credit to their customers, or allowing them to
set up charge accounts, the revolutionary idea behind Diners Club
was that the same card could be used to pay a variety of merchants.
In 1950, the first Diners Club cards were given out to 200
associates of McNamara, mostly salesmen who often needed to dine
with clients. At that time, Diners Club had signed up 14 restaurants
in New York City. Membership grew quickly as both new customers
applied for the card and more restaurants signed on.
By the end of 1950, Diners Club had 20,000 customers and was
accepted at over 1000 restaurants. In 1952, McNamara sold his share
of the company, which continued to grow unabated for several years,
eventually signing merchants all over the United States. Their
monopoly was short-lived, however, as the more generalized American
Express and BankAmericard (later renamed VISA) arrived towards the
end of the decade. Today, Diners Club International is a part of
Citibank, a unit of Citigroup, and has expanded its coverage to
include all types of merchants instead of being limited to
restaurants.
Diners Club also has recently introduced an upscale version of its
card, the Diners Club Carte Blanche card. (Carte Blanche used to be
a card completely independent of Diners Club; like Diners Club, it
was acquired by Citibank.) It is an upper-level charge card on par
with the American Express Platinum card. The card carries a US$300
annual fee and offers an extensive menu of perks geared toward
affluent travelers. It is accepted wherever regular Diners Club
cards are accepted. |