Think how different life would be if carrying cash were the only way you could pay for lunch. Or if each time you needed to book a trip, you’d have to spend hours on the phone to purchase airfare, lodging and a rental car.
This was the world in which businessman Frank McNamara lived in 1949. The story, as told by Frank, began when he realized he had forgotten his wallet while dining out with clients at Majors Cabin Grill in midtown Manhattan. His wife needed to drive in cash from their Long Island home to pay the bill. But any embarrassment Frank may have felt that night on West 33rd Street was quickly replaced by inspiration: The episode led him to develop the first multipurpose charge card — a payment method that could be used for credit at different merchants.
One year later, on February 8, 1950, he introduced the first Diners Club® card in New York City, making payments history. This Diners Club card gave birth to the global payments industry and a legacy of innovation that Diners Club International® continues today.
Explore six Diners Club innovations from the past 75 years, and later, learn how cardmembers continue to benefit from the brand’s focus on serving individuals and businesses.
A ubiquitous sign popping up in retail establishments these days cautions: In God we trust —all others pay cash. The sign presupposes, however, that the customer does not have a Diners Club card.”
— Forbes in April 1958, marking the company’s rapid growth
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1969
1975
1984
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2008
1969
The First Computerized Hotel Reservation System
While the Jet Age ushered in affordable flights — and the burgeoning Interstate Highway System made it easier for Americans to road-trip — travel remained a friction-filled affair. Making multiple calls to hotels searching for a reservation in the era of pay phones and phone books was inconvenient and potentially costly. That’s when Diners Club subsidiary Reservations World, which Diners Club acquired in 1966, partnered with electronics company RCA to unveil a solution: the hotel industry’s first computerized reservation system. By calling one toll-free reservation line, any traveler or travel agent nationwide could book a room or a car.
1950
1975
Frank offered the first Diners Club card to 200 people, most of whom he already knew. This select group could initially use the cards at 14 New York restaurants. Membership took off from there: By the end of the next year, restaurants in Miami, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco also accepted Diners Club. And by 1952, the network spanned 400 restaurants, 30 hotels, 200 car rental agencies and five florists. Just one year later, Diners Club became the first internationally accepted charge card.
The World’s First Multipurpose Charge Card
1950
1969
For the better part of the 20th century, most professionals paid for business travel and meals out of pocket and later submitted paper receipts for employer reimbursement. Diners Club offered an alternative to this cumbersome process with a corporate card program that allowed companies to not only issue cards to employees to cover their business purchases but also to track and limit those expenses. Twenty-five years after its founding, Diners Club had amassed more than 2 million consumer and corporate cardmembers.
The First Corporate Card Program
1975
1984
1969
When an economic boom kicked off an era of big spending, Diners Club pioneered the first card-based rewards program, allowing cardmembers to earn frequent flier miles and merchandise based on dollars spent. The Club Rewards program proved popular, and today, many Diners Club issuers continue to provide localized reward programs.
The First Rewards Program In The Payments Industry
1984
1990
1975
Diners Club took the success of its corporate card program a big step further: It launched the first multinational corporate card program, bringing global companies together with a common product.
The First Multinational Corporate Card Program
1990
2008
1984
As a global payments network and premium issuing brand, Diners Club International opened up international acceptance for Discover® cardholders through its acquisition. Diners Club is now accepted at over 55 million merchant locations1 and over 1.2 million ATMs globally. Its members enjoy access to more than 1,500 airport lounges and experiences in 700 cities worldwide.
Discover Purchases Diners Club
2008
1990
