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History of Accepting Credit Cards (Page 1 of 2)
Charge cards can be dated back to the early 1900s. In 1914, what seems purely as a customer service goodwill gesture, Western Union gave some of their prominent (preferred) customers a metal card to be used in deferring payments-interest free-on services used. One source said this card became known as “Metal Money.”
As time progressed so did the charge card. Before the start of WWII, retailors, travel companies and gas stations offered this service to their special customers. These company based charge cards were limited by their use exclusively through the issuing company. These companies issued the cards, processed the transactions, and collected the debts from the customer.
In WW II, the use of credit and charge cards was prohibited.
After WW II, credit cards became more accessible to the general public After seeing trends indicating increased travel and spending among those who held charge cards, banks became interested in credit cards-after all they were in the business of lending money, and they saw the profit potential behind attaching interest to the cards.
When banks first got into the credit card business, they were only issuing cards to local consumers. In 1951, the Franklin National Bank in New York, issued the “Charge It” card. Which allowed customers to charge purchases at local stores. This charge card system worked much like credit card systems work today. The customer would make a purchase with the card; the merchant performed a credit authorization from the network, then completed the sale. The Banks paid the merchant and collected the funds from their customer later on. Other banks across the nation were impressed with the success of this process that within several years after the “Charge It” card they offered their customers similar services for making purchases at local retail establishments.
In the 1950s the first charge card was developed that allowed consumers to make charges for services and goods from a variety of retail outlets. This innovation was the Diner’s Club charge card, which was established for business men to use for travel and entertainment expenses. The Diner’s Club card gave its members up to 60-days to make payment.
The first “revolving-credit” card was issued in the State of California by the Bank of America. The card, BankAmericard, was marketed all across the state. This card set another milestone in the development of the credit card industry. The BankAmericard was the first card to give cardholders payment options. Payment options like today’s cards, let consumers pay the debt in whole or they could make monthly minimum payments while the banks charged interest on the remaining balances.
By the 1960s, bank card associations begun to emerge. In 1965, Bank of America issued licensing agreements to other banks-both large and small-across the nation. These licensing agreements permitted regional banks to issue BankAmericards and to exchange transactions through issuing banks.
Increase Credit Scores Rating
Credit scores ratings always starts with Credit repair. It is something that takes time and patience to accomplish, especially if the damage was made recently. There are many ways to increase your credit score and boost your ability to apply for future financial aid, but these can be tedious and time consuming.
To start the repair, you will need a copy of the reports from all three consumer reporting agencies:TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. Compare all the reports and make sure that all the information they contain are accurate. Some creditors only report to one agency, which can cause discrepancies. Also, there have been instances where closed accounts are still being reported open and paid off debts are still showing as unpaid. Make sure to correct these errors right away by calling the consumer reporting agencies and explaining the situation. You may also need to contact the creditors who made the report to send an update to clear up the inaccuracies.
The next step is to get rid of too much debt. Make sure to get rid of all most of your unsecured debt either by paying it off or consolidating it. Too much debt can be seen as a negative and is a factor when it comes to your credit file . Close out all the extra charge cards and store cards and only keep two – ideally a Visa and a Mastercard, to make sure that you will have access to funds when you need it. Keep the accounts that have been open the longest because this will have a positive impact on your credit score. Donít close out all the other accounts at the same time. Try to close only one or two accounts every six months to give your score time to adjust.
The way to confirm the repair is to ensure that you do not have late payments or incur an overdraft on any of your debts. Financial institutions report these to the consumer reporting agencies , who in turn put it in your credit report. There is a 30 day, 60 day, and 90 day category on missed payments, and having one of this can cause your score to take a very large drop .
Finally, make sure that your credit report information is being accurately reported. Your FICO score is partly based on the amount of debt you have versus the amount of credit you have available. Some charge cards report your highest balance instead of your limit, so if the highest balance youíve incurred is $400 out of a $500 charge card and you charge $450 the next month, it may look like you went over the limit. Make sure never to charge more than 30 percent of your limit to show that you are not spending more than you need to .
Credit report repair is a long term process, especially since some of the negative feedback will take 7 to 10 years to fall off. One thing that you need to remember is not to borrow more than you can afford to pay back and to make sure that your accounts are all up to date. After all, even though the repair can take years, it will still benefit you in the long run.