Credit cards originated in the United States in the 1920s, but the earliest issuing institution was not a bank, but a company. At that time, the bosses of several oil companies in the United States came up with an idea, that is, to issue a card to let customers buy gasoline with the card and pay the bill later. But this kind of card has not been popular for a long time, but it can be said that it is the embryonic form of credit card.

Until one day in 1950, Ralph Shadell, an American banker, invited a group of celebrities to have dinner in a big hotel in new york. While waiting to pay the bill, Ralph found that he had forgotten his wallet. At that time, the embarrassing situation in the mirror can be imagined. Although the hotel owner said that he could pay the bill together next time because of his good reputation, Ralph asked his wife to bring cash to the hotel to settle the bill. After returning home, Ralph has been worried about what happened that night. He is a banker with status, but he can't afford to pay the bill.

Ralph thought, how can we prevent what happened tonight from happening again? He thought it over and over again, and the words of the restaurant owner that night inspired him. Finally, Ralph came up with a foolproof plan, that is, when eating, drinking and having fun, you don't need to bring money, you can also check out the bill and show your identity-that is, he organized a "Diner Club", and all members who joined the club will get a card to prove their identity and ability to pay. Anyone with this card can use it to collect meals in 27 hotels in new york. Cardholders don't have to pay cash, just show their cards and sign the bill for confirmation, and the hotel will handle the collection through the bank. As soon as this move came out, it was greatly welcomed by the upper class and participants flocked to it.

At first, these cards could only be used in a few consumer places, but Ralph soon had the idea of extending the validity of these cards to retail stores and wholesale enterprises. Soon, someone designed a "universal" card that was effective almost anywhere. 1958, Ralph publicly issued the world's first credit card-Bank of America's "Bangjia Merika", and established Bank of America's fleet credit card company, with the number of cardholders gradually expanding.

Since then, credit cards have sprouted and developed rapidly in the United States, Canada, Britain and other developed countries in Europe and America. After more than 50 years of development, credit cards have been widely accepted in more than 95% countries around the world. In 1980s, with the development of reform and opening up and market economy, credit cards, as electronic and modern consumer financial payment tools, began to enter China, and have developed by leaps and bounds in the past decade. Of course, it needs to be reminded that while enjoying the convenience brought by credit cards, cardholders should also consider their own debt ability, so that credit cards can become a tool to reduce our economic burden, instead of making it our economic burden.