It was Edward Bellamy who introduced the concept of the card usage to make purchases. The words Credit Card had been mentioned in his novel Looking Backward eleven times, and in the book's sequel named Equality three times.
During the 1950s, Ralph Schneider and Frank Mcnamara invented the notion of making payments to merchants using a card. This gave rise to the foundation and opening of the Diner Club, which is still in existence and operation today.
This had been followed by the opening of Carte Blanche, American Express, and Bank of America's introduction of the Visa Card.
It continuously evolved until it reached its recent form of using the plastic card that is most commonly known as the Credit Card.
The use of credit cards has its own pros and cons.
Below are some of the advantages:
1. Minimizes risk of loosing cash. The consumers need only to bring and present the plastic card to make transactions or purchases.
2. Convenience. Purchases that immediately needs to be made may be possible with the use of credit cards even if the individual is low in cash since all that would be looked at is the credit limit available.
Some of the disadvantages are:
1. This could result to accumulation of debt if the main and interest charges are not settled until its due dates.
2. It could be very tempting to make purchases that are really not quite necessary.
It had always been noted that the rampant use of the credit card system had resulted to the Great Depression of the 1920s.
With the sudden rise of automobiles available for purchase by the consumers during the said period, there had been an equal increase in the demand for fuel.
So as not to loose consumers, most fuel companies extended credit to their consumers to attract more buyers to increase sales.
This gave birth to the introduction and use of Gas Credit Cards.
Gas Credit Cards are somewhat similar with credit cards, but is limited to the use of purchasing of gasoline.
Cardholders of said cards are usually given rebates in the form of cash back check or by giving them a credit for their existing balance.
The following are some of the best offers by some gas credit cards:
1. Awarding of 5% Cashback Bonus upon purchase of gas or 1% for any other purchase
2. 3-9% rebate on all gas purchases that are made on any gas station during the first 90 days.
3. Free gas offers when a certain amount had been charged on the card.
4. Gas credit cards that have annual fees usually offer a lower interest rate for purchases that are charged to it.
A consumer may want to choose these types of cards if they have limited means to immediately pay the card balance so as to minimize interest accumulation.
5. Some gas stations offer discounts to consumers using their particular card
6. As compared to regular credit cards, gas credit cards offer a much lower interest rate for gas purchases, thus making it a wise decision to have one of this if the consumer is usually traveling using his or her own vehicle.
Still, it all depends on the consumer to use his or her card wisely for his or her own benefit.
