How BankAmericard and Master Charge Became Visa and Mastercard

Modern credit cards began taking shape in the United States in 1958, when Bank of America introduced BankAmericard in Fresno, California. By issuing cards widely at once, the bank persuaded local merchants to accept them and overcame the challenge of building a usable payment network. BankAmericard later became Visa in 1976. A competing group of banks created Master Charge in 1966, and it eventually evolved into Mastercard. Early card issuers also sent unsolicited cards to millions of people, a practice banned in 1970 after it contributed to fraud and debt problems. Computerised processing later made card payments faster, while legal reforms increased competition among card issuers. These changes helped shape the global credit-card system used today.

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