First & Merchants BankAmericard Visa
date: label: date made
content: 1978
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: The BankAmericard was introduced by Bank of America in 1958 as the first general purpose credit card. Prior to this, credit cards were either issued by specific retailers or were used for a specific purpose (e.g. Diners’ Club was originally used in restaurants). This was also the first credit card with revolving credit that could be paid down incrementally instead of paying the balance at the end of each month. The idea caught on quickly as other institutions began issuing their own BankAmericards. In 1976 BankAmericard officially became branded as a Visa card.
place: label: place made
content: United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
label: See more items in
content: American Enterprise
label: See more items in
content: Coins, Currency and Medals
label: Exhibition
content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Sewer, Andy; Allison, David; Liebhold, Peter; Davis, Nancy; Franz, Kathleen G.. American Enterprise: A History of Business in America
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: E. Clain-Stefanelli
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: NU.84.17.11
label: catalog number
content: 84.17.11
label: accession number
content: 1984.0606
objectType: label: Object Name
content: credit card
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5.5 cm x 8.5 cm x .05 cm; 2 5/32 in x 3 11/32 in x 1/32 in