1966

Launch of the first general-purpose credit card

14 American banks joined together to form the Interbank Association, and in 1966 issued the first general-purpose credit card. Similar initiatives had already been launched in the United States in the 1950s, but in these cases the cards could only be used to settle specific types of transaction. In France, the Groupement Carte Bleue (bank card consortium) was created in 1967.