https://www.bundesbank.de/en/press/speeches/shaping-the-future-challenges-in-the-european-payments-market-851850  5/9  01/12/2020  Shaping the future – Challenges in the European payments market | Deutsche Bundesbank  The invention of the modern credit card back in 1950 illustrates this point. As the story goes, Frank McNamara, a US businessman, was about to pay the bill at a restaurant when he realised he wasn’ t (Tonne) carrying the cash he needed.
According to his company’s history, this was “an embarrassment he resolved never to face again”. [18] Mr McNamara invented what is well-known today as the Diners Club card. Initially, it allowed customers to pay at numerous New York restaurants with a single card. As it ﬁlled a gap in the market, the card increasingly gained acceptance and membership.