The very first credit card was the Diners club card, which was created by Frank McNamara in 1950. From there many companies, stores, and banks began offering credit cards. These credit cards gave the cardholder the ability to purchase on credit and pay it back at a later date with interest payments added if the entire balance was not paid on time. Not only did this give the customer the freedom to have credit, but they also did not have to carry around large sums of money and could purchase larger items and pay for them later. In 1996, the rewards credit cards hit the market.
Today, you can find all kinds of rewards credit cards. Discover was the first to offer a rewards credit card, which gave the cardholder the chance to receive a percentage of their spending to be returned to them in the form of rebates. This is similar to the cash back rewards credit cards that you see everywhere. The cardholder can receive a percentage back on some of their purchases either monthly or yearly, however, you must purchase at the stores or type of stores the credit card company offers the with their cash back policy.
Next, in line was Continental Airlines that began to offer...