The first credit card, Diners Club, was introduced in 1950.
Diners Club is widely regarded as the first general-purpose charge card. Frank McNamara, Ralph Schneider, and Alfred Bloomingdale developed the idea in New York after McNamara’s famous 1949 restaurant incident, although accounts differ over exactly what happened during that meal. The company was formally founded on February 8, 1950.
The original Diners Club card was made of cardboard and could initially be used at 27 participating restaurants. Cardholders settled their balance at the end of each month, so it was technically a charge card rather than a modern revolving-credit card. By the end of 1950, the club had about 20,000 members.
A common mix-up is the year 1951, when Diners Club had already expanded significantly and had about 42,000 members. Another is assuming the first card was plastic: the first plastic Diners Club card was introduced in 1961. Bank-issued revolving cards such as BankAmericard, the predecessor of Visa, emerged later and helped create the modern credit-card model.