Comments on: Credit Cards: Helping People Go Into Debt Since 1946

By: Square

Square — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 23:09:29 +0000

Thanks for the enlightenment. The information is so helpful.

By: Chris Peach

Chris Peach — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 19:05:53 +0000

In reply to Bethany Gustafson. I don't know about case studies, but if you do a little reading about VISA, formerly Bank America, you will find that they gave up control of everything in the seventies. This allowed it to be marketed internationally. That's also about the time the name changed. I think that could be part of it, along with continued marketing efforts and other improvements.

By: Bethany Gustafson

Bethany Gustafson — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 20:17:16 +0000

Hello,
Curious if you have come across any case studies on the marketing/strategy side for Bank of America in creating the BankAmericard.

I know they launched their first revolving credit card product to consumers and labels it the BankAmericard. They launched in Fresno, CA and 60,000 unsolicited offers were sent out through the mail to the people of Fresno. This was the first time ever unsolicited credit card offers were “dropped” into the mailboxes like they still are today. In 1976, BankAmericard became known as VISA.

How did they create mass adoption acceptance? They had been using cash and this was completely foreign to them. How did they gain the trust of the people?

By: Peach

Peach — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 12:48:47 +0000

In reply to Thrifthounds. As I was doing the research, I had the same thoughts. When you dig deeper into the research, you will see there were a few key things that were passed into legislation which relaxed many of the lending laws across state lines. When that happened, the flood gates were opened to the world of revolving debt, high interest rates, and mailboxes filling up quickly with credit card offers.

By: Thrifthounds

Thrifthounds — Sun, 13 Mar 2016 22:12:46 +0000

Fascinating history, and great research! Totally sharing this on Facebook. It’s hard to believe that revolving credit didn’t exist before the late 80s, and it’s interesting that this invention has coincided with the stagnation of most Americans’ real wages over the past 20-30 years.

By: Peach

Peach — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 15:14:34 +0000

In reply to christina s.. Hi Christina, We haven't had a credit card since 2011 and we use our debit card just like would a credit card :)

By: Peach

Peach — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 15:09:16 +0000

In reply to BeachMama. I 100% agree!

By: Peach

Peach — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 15:08:06 +0000

In reply to Catherine Alford. Hi Cat, I'm a pretty big nerd when it comes to money facts!

By: christina s.

christina s. — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 21:35:24 +0000

Hi! Good article, and I enjoyed seeing the old cards. Question for you – my husband and I are considering trying a one-month credit card ban, but we have a couple of logistic questions and I’m hoping you don’t mind me asking them of you. Do you not order online, or do use some other way? After having our debit card info stolen 5 times over the last 15 years, we’re hesitant to use anything other than a credit card. Do you use debit cards for purchasing plane tickets, or for other retailers who will only do auto payments to credit cards (like our daycare facility)?

By: BeachMama

BeachMama — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 17:24:35 +0000

This was a very interesting post – if a “financial literacy” class actually existed, it should be required reading 🙂