of discover financial industry finance founded 1950 founder frank x. mcnamara ralph schneider matty simmons alfred bloomingdale headquarters riverwoods illinois u.s. area served worldwide key people eduardo tobon president & ceo 1 products charge and credit cards website www.dinersclub.com diners club international dci founded as diners club is a charge card company formed in 1950 by frank x. mcnamara ralph schneider and matty simmons . it was the first independent credit card company in the world and it established the concept of a self sufficient company producing credit cards for travel and entertainment . 2 diners club international and its franchises service affluent and well travelled individuals 3 from around the globe with operations in 59 countries . 4 contents 1 origins 2 history 3 acquisition by discover financial services 4 north american franchise 4.1 mastercard alliance 4.2 carte blanche 4.3 enroute 4.4 acquisition by bmo 5 russia 6 switzerland and germany franchise 7 united kingdom and ireland franchise 8 slovenian scandal 9 in popular culture 10 see also 11 references 12 external links origins edit the idea for diners club was conceived at the majors cabin grill restaurant in new york city in 1949 . 5 diners club cofounder frank mcnamara was dining with clients and realized he had left his wallet in another suit . 6 his wife paid the tab and mcnamara thought of a multipurpose charge card as a way to avoid similar embarrassments in the future . 7 he discussed the idea with the restaurant owner at the table 8 and the following day with his lawyer ralph schneider and friend alfred bloomingdale . 8 mcnamara returned to the same restaurant the following february and paid for his meal using a cardboard charge card and a signature . 9 10 the story became well known 7 11 and is credited by historians as the beginnings of contemporary credit . 12 various versions of the story differ about whether it was a lunch or dinner at which mcnamara forgot his wallet 7 and whether the bill was paid on loan or mcnamara waited for his wife to drive his wallet to him . 13 14 some journalists later credited alfred bloomingdale with the idea for diners club . 7 mcnamara and his attorney ralph schneider founded diners club international on february 8 1950 15 with 1.5 million in initial capital . 7 alfred bloomingdale joined briefly then started a competing venture in california before merging his california based dine and sign with diners club . 11 diners club international was named for being a club of diners that would allow patrons to settle their bill at the end of each month through their credit account . 16 when the card was first introduced diners club listed 27 participating restaurants and 200 of the founders friends and acquaintances used it . 16 diners club had 20 000 members by the end of 1950 17 and 42 000 by the end of 1951 . 18 at the time the company was charging participating establishments seven percent and billed cardholders 5 a year . 19 in 1952 mcnamara sold his interest in diners club to his partners for 200 000 . 20 the first plastic diners club card was introduced in 1961 ; 21 by the mid 1960s diners club had 1.3 million cardholders . 22 diners club international was acquired by citigroup in 1981 23 and by discover financial services in april 2008 . 24 history edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message diners club s monopoly was short lived as american express and carte blanche which later partnered with diners club began to compete with diners club in the travel and entertainment t & e card market . american express now dominates the member card arena providing millions of customers with cards that require the monthly balance to be paid in full . towards the end of the 1960s diners club also faced competition from banks that issued revolving credit cards through bankamericard later renamed visa and interbank master charge later renamed mastercard . diners club began early on to allow franchises of the diners club name at first in europe and later throughout the world for many years eclipsing the bankamericard or interbank master charge networks abroad . starting in 1968 amoco also issued for a time its own co branded diners club cards called american torch club 25 later renamed amoco torch club and sun oil company issued its version called sun diner club card starting in 1977 . 26 in 1981 citibank a unit of citigroup acquired diners club international the franchisor that holds rights to the diners club trademark and many of the largest franchises worldwide . a majority of the franchises abroad remain independently owned . acquisition by discover financial services edit in a transaction completed july 1 2008 discover financial services purchased diners club international from citibank for 165 million . 27 the deal was announced in april 2008 and approved by the u.s. government in may 2008 . by merging the north american discover network with the international diners club network discover created a global payment processing system . discover bank has no plans to issue diners club branded cards which continue to be issued by diners club international licensees . citation needed in 2011 discover began putting its logo on diners club cards . some payment processors like paypal can only process new diners club cards with the discover logo on them . citation needed north american franchise edit mastercard alliance edit in 2004 diners club announced an agreement with mastercard . diners club cards issued in the united states and canada then featured a mastercard logo and 16 digit account number on the front and could be used wherever mastercards were accepted . cards from other countries continued to bear a 14 digit account number on the front with the mastercard logo on the back . however since the takeover of diners club international by discover financial services these cards have had the discover logo on the back . citation needed carte blanche edit carte blanche began in 1958 when the hilton hotels travel & entertainment card was renamed . hilton sold carte blanche to first national city bank in 1966 . regulatory challenges forced first national city bank to sell carte blanche to avco in 1968 . in 1978 citicorp parent company of first national city bank which was renamed citibank reacquired carte blanche without regulatory opposition . 28 29 the 1960s and 1970s era carte blanche cards were considered more prestigious worldwide than their competition the american express and diners club cards though its small cardmember base hindered its success . carte blanche was the first to implement a gold card program citation needed as a means to recognize cardholders who were frequent users and paid their bills on time . in 1981 citicorp acquired the diners club card and by the mid 1990s the carte blanche card was being phased out in favor of diners club . parent company citigroup also known as citi was formed in 1998 with the merger of citicorp and the travelers group . citi issued a premium diners club card in 2000 naming it the diners club carte blanche card . it was an upper level charge card on par with the american express platinum card . the card carries a us 300 annual fee as of april 2015 and offers an extensive menu of perks . 30 diners club requires payment from individual cardholders in full within 30 days ; corporate accounts can pay within 60 days without penalty . citation needed by 2005 the classic carte blanche card had been phased out and only the diners club carte blanche card remained . enroute edit main article enroute credit card diners club expanded its customer base in canada by acquiring the enroute credit card from air canada in 1992 . it marketed the card under the combined name for a period of time as the diners club enroute card . 31 the enroute business was valued at over 300 million at the time of acquisition . diners club remains a minor player in canada . citation needed acquisition by bmo edit in november 2009 citibank announced that diners club international s north american franchise has been sold to bank of montreal bmo . the deal gives bmo exclusive rights to issue diners cards in the u.s. and canada . at the time bmo said the diners club fits well with its existing commercial card business adding that commercial cards are one of the fastest growing segments in the credit card business . 32 russia edit on december 2010 russian standard bank and diners club international entered into an agreement for settlement of transactions in russia . under the agreement russian standard bank will process settlement transactions of other banks acting as acquirers of diners club in russia . 33 switzerland and germany franchise edit in a transaction that closed on august 6 2010 citibank sold the switzerland and germany franchises to a private investment group headed by anthony j. helbling . 34 united kingdom and ireland franchise edit on august 7 2012 citigroup inc. announced the sale of its diners club franchise in the united kingdom and ireland to affiniture cards ltd. a private investor group . 35 slovenian scandal edit in 2013 toma lov e who owned diners club slovenia was one of three people investigated in slovenia regarding unpaid debts that his franchise owed to merchants . 36 in may the central bank of slovenia revoked diners club slovenia s license for payment services which meant 80 000 local members could not use their card . 37 38 diners club international transferred the franchise to a subsidiary of austria s erste bank group erste card club and agreed to repay the franchise s debt to merchants . 36 39 an erste press release in august 2013 stated that diners club services were once again available in slovenia . 40 in popular culture edit in 1963 the film the man from the diner s club was released 41 and the ideal toy company created the board gamed titled the diners club credit card game . 42 43 see also edit companies portal credit cards references edit believe belong blog . diners club international . retrieved june 30 2013 . diners club review . casinosbanking . retrieved 2011 05 26 . diners club merchant benefits . diners club international . diners club local sites . diners club international . klaffke pamela 1 october 2003 . spree a cultural history of shopping . arsenal pulp press . pp. 22 24 . isbn 978 1 55152 143 5 . retrieved 8 february 2013 . beauchamp marc j. june 2003 . how to survive & thrive in the merchant services industry . survive & thrive . pp. 37 38 . isbn 978 0 9741884 0 9 . retrieved 7 january 2013 . a b c d e evans david sparks & schmalensee richard 2005 . paying with plastic the digital revolution in buying and borrowing . mit press . p. 54 . isbn 978 0 262 55058 1 . retrieved january 7 2013 . a b levine jonathan 2008 . credit where it is due a social history of consumer credit in america . proquest . pp. 184 205 . isbn 978 0 549 81953 0 . retrieved 8 february 2013 . bear david november 19 2006 . who deserves the credit for credit cards . pittsburgh post gazette . retrieved february 6 2013 . liberman sherri 31 august 2011 . american food by the decades . abc clio . pp. 131 132 . isbn 978 0 313 37698 6 . retrieved 7 january 2013 . a b schnaars