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Credit was first used in Assyria, Babylon and Egypt 3000 years ago. The bill of exchange - the forerunner of banknotes - was established in the 14th century. Debts were settled by one-third cash and two-thirds bill of exchange. Paper money followed only in the 17th century.

The first advertisement for credit was placed in 1730 by Christopher Thornton, who offered furniture that could be paid off weekly.

From the 18th century until the early part of the 20th, tallymen sold clothes in return for small weekly payments. They were called “tallymen” because they kept a record or tally of what people had bought on a wooden stick. One side of the stick was marked with notches to represent the amount of debt and the other side was a record of payments. In the 1920s, a shopper’s plate - a “buy now and pay later” system - was introduced in the USA. It could only be used in the shops which issued it.

In 1950, Diners Club and American Express launched their charge cards in the USA, the first “plastic money”. In 1951, Diners Club issued the first credit card to 200 customers who could use it at 27 restaurants in New York. But it was only until the establishment of standards for the magnetic strip in 1970 that the credit card became part of the information age.

Credit cards were first promoted to traveling salesmen (more common in that era) for use on the road.

By the early 1960s, more companies offered credit cards, advertising them as a time-saving device rather than a form of credit. American Express and MasterCard became huge successes overnight.

By the mid-’70s, the US Congress begin regulating the credit card industry by banning such practices as the mass mailing of active credit cards to those who had not requested them.

However, not all regulations have been as consumer friendly. In 1996, the US Supreme Court in Smiley vs. Citibank lifted restrictions on the amount of late penalty fees a credit card company could charge.

Deregulation has also allowed very high interest rates to be charged

The first use of magnetic stripes on cards was in the early 1960’s, when the London Transit Authority installed a magnetic stripe system.

San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit installed a paper based ticket the same size as the credit cards in the late 1960’s.

The word credit comes from Latin, meaning “trust”.

Cheques (checks) came into use in 1875.

In Bangladesh, the first credit card facility was started by ANZ Grindlay’s Bank.

As time demanded, all most all the private banks introduced credit cards in the market, some of them, are, Duch-Bangla Bank, Brac Bank, UCB and the very recently IFIC Bank launched its credit card with a tagline developed by its advertising agency ‘Get it hot’ at the lowest interest rate among the competitors.

Some points to remember while writing a cheque:
Don’t let any one rush you in writing the cheque. Make sure the cheque is properly dated, and bears the current signature that you have recorded with the bank. Make the cheque crossed or account payee for definite receipt by the beneficiary. Always fill up the counter-foil of cheques for future reference and cross-checking with the statement of accounts.

Some points to remember while accepting a cheque:
Avoid cheques bearing signs of alteration, difference in amount and figure. Ensure that the signature matches with any ID the issuer is holding. Avoid bearer cheques, cheques not drawn on local banks by local payees, counter cheques-in other words cheques on which the name of the drawee and account number is not printed. Always avoid post-dated cheques.

Points to consult your bank representative or relationship manager for the better deals:
Ensure that you are availing the right products available at the bank. Find out if you are entitled to waiver on any service charges. Being a loyal, longstanding customer you may be entitled to a lower interest rate on loans or credit card. Therefore, it would be prudent to raise these queries with your Bank official.

Are all banks charging the same rate of service charge?
Not all banks are charging service fees at the same rate. It would be wise to take out your statements for the last year or so and add up the fees and penalties you paid for monthly account maintenance, ATMs, bounced checks, etc. Now compare your bank with three or four other banks. You may discover that you could earn or save by using another bank. Or, you may find that your own bank still offers a good value and that it is willing to make compromises to retain you as a customer.

How can you simplify banking?
You can simplify your life by making your bank (if the facility exist) automatically arrange some of your regular payments, such as your mortgage, health insurance premiums and utility bills. It can be an easy, economical alternative to writing and depositing a lot of checks each month.