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The “Everything Card” and Consumer Credit in the United States in the 1960s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2011

Christine Zumello
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Abstract

First National City Bank (FNCB) of New York launched the Everything Card in the summer of 1967. A latecomer in the field of credit cards, FNCB nonetheless correctly recognized a promising business model for retail banking. FNCB attempted not only to ride the wave of mass consumption but also to capitalize on the profit-generating potential of buying on credit. Although the venture soon failed, brought down by the losses that plagued the bank due to fraud, consumer discontent, and legislative action, this final attempt by a major single commercial bank to launch its own plan did not signify the end of credit cards. On the contrary, the Everything Card was a harbinger of the era of the universal credit card.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business History Review , Volume 85 , Issue 3 , Autumn 2011 , pp. 551 - 575
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 2011

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References

1 First National City Bank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, before becoming National City Bank of New York in 1865; First National City Bank of the City of New York in 1955; First National City Bank in 1962; First National City Corp. in 1968; Citicorp in 1974; Citibank N. A. in 1976; Citigroup in 1998.

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99 Ibid., 7.