Which country first introduced credit card?
Rachel Davis
Updated on January 28, 2026
Credit cards in India The Central Bank of India launched the first bank credit card in 1980, which was followed by Andhra Bank in the same year – both were of the Visa brand. MasterCard was introduced to Indian consumers by Vijaya Bank in 1988.
Who is the first largest credit card issuer?
Active in over 160 different countries and territories, American Express (AMEX) is the world’s largest issuer of credit cards in terms of transactions, averaging 6 billion transactions per year. American Express primarily accepts high-income cardholders with robust credit scores.
Who was the first bank to issue a credit card?
He promoted his new concept which he called “Charg-It” as a way for local stores to offer credit to patrons of the bank. As the issuer of the cards, the bank would pay the stores and assume responsibility for collecting the debt from the Charg-It card holders. Thus the universal credit card was born.
Who are the largest credit card issuers in the world?
UnionPay: China-based card issuer and payment network that links every ATM throughout the country; the world’s largest card payment company based on total transaction value. Verve: A Nigerian card issuer and network; accepted globally, including in the U.S., via Discover.
When did HSBC start issuing Discover credit cards?
HSBC has issued Discover-branded credit cards processed through the Discover Network since its acquisition of card issuer Metris in late 2005. Metris had originally signed an agreement with Discover in September 2005, three months prior to the HSBC acquisition.
How to tell credit card country of origin by its number?
It simply tells you the country of origin by checking the first 6 digits of the card number. It has a neat Json based API as well. BinList returns incorrect brand (Visa) and country for my MasterCard, so I would not trust it. – P. Šileikis Jan 4 ’17 at 9:27 @P.Šileikis I agree with you. Unfortunately there is no formal API for this kind of work.