In 1950, the Diners’ Club issued the first credit card, invented by Diners' Club founder Frank McNamara, in the United States for use in restaurants, with American Express next joining the market in 1958.

Diners’ Club became the first major credit card company in Britain in 1962 formed from the merger of Finders Services and Credit Card Facilities. As happened in the US, American Express soon followed with their credit card hitting the UK in 1963.

A report in the Financial Times in 1965 said the average Diners Club card holder was 41, male and married with a family, earning well over £3,000 a year as a senior commercial or business executive. Switch and Visa debit cards were introduced in the 1980s.

Customers use the cards for payment of goods and the money is directly debited from their account. The cards can also be used to withdraw money from cashpoint machines and they act as cheque guarantee cards.

The Credit Card Research Group carried out a survey in 2001 and found there were 62 million credit cards in circulation in the UK, with many people owning more than one.