Setting the Stage: Money, Credit, and Payments in America

Abstract

This chapter establishes a context for the history presented throughout the rest of the book. It describes the formation of the Federal Reserve’s check clearing system in the United States; the early charge card programs operated by Western Union, the oil industry, the airlines and the department stores; the various travel and entertainment cards of the 1950s; and the early bank-issued credit cards, especially the BankAmericard from Bank of America. It ends with the creation of the first national interchange networks: the Interbank system; and the BankAmericard licensing system.