Apply for Diner's Club Card

The Diners Club, formed in 1950 by Frank X. McNamara, Ralph Sneider and Alfred Bloomingdale was the first independent credit card company in the world. While many stores and businesses were in the practice of extending credit to their customers, or allowing them to set up charge accounts, the revolutionary idea behind Diners Club was that the same card could be used to pay a variety of merchants.

In 1950, the first Diners Club cards were given out to 200 associates of McNamara, mostly salesmen who often needed to dine with clients. At that time, Diners Club had signed up 14 restaurants in New York City. Membership grew quickly as both new customers applied for the card and more restaurants signed on.

By the end of 1950, Diners Club had 20,000 customers and was accepted at over 1000 restaurants. In 1952, McNamara sold his share of the company, which continued to grow unabated for several years, eventually signing merchants all over the United States. Their monopoly was short-lived, however, as the more generalized American Express and BankAmericard (later renamed VISA) arrived towards the end of the decade. Today, Diners Club International is a part of Citibank, a unit of Citigroup, and has expanded its coverage to include all types of merchants instead of being limited to restaurants.