27 June 2006
Barclaycard, which was first distributed from a converted shoe warehouse in Northampton, was the first card to be launched in the UK four decades ago.
Although American Express and Diners Club had already been operating in the US since the 1950s, the idea was entirely new to the UK, and wass met with a mixed response.
"We got loads of letters back saying 'what the hell are you doing, we shall never use these'," John Healey, one of Barclaycards first employees back in 1967, told the BBC.
Credit cards did prove a success, although users were initially required to settle their balance in full at the end of every month.
It was not until 1970 that the laws were liberalised to allow cards to offer extended credit and not until 1972 that Barclaycard received some competition in the form of the Access card.
Now the market has grown to more than 1,300 cards but despite significant numbers of new cards since the early 1990s, profit margins have changed little since 1993.
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