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July 10, 2023 • Issue 23:07:01

Payments, a retrospective
Payments, a retrospectiv
e

Bankcard and beyond

Bankcards, a 20th century innovation
Bankcard arrived in the 1960s, with the introduction
of BankAmericard. Bank of America, after successfully
launching the card, began offering franchises to the largest
banks in major cities nationwide. At about the same time, a
separate group of banks created a competing organization,
MasterCharge.

Eventually, these became free-standing corporations,
known as Visa and Mastercard. Initially, each brand was
exclusive—a merchant accepted either Mastercard or Visa—
but that anti-duality stance was dropped in the late 1970s.

Duality came to financial institutions (FIs), too, and helped
fuel an explosion of credit card issuance. It also raised
antitrust concerns, since many banks sat on the boards of
both associations. The Department of Justice went after
Visa and Mastercard in 1998 in the first of several antitrust
By Patti Murphy investigations, which continue today.
Birth of an industry: merchant acquiring
ike many of the folks I meet in this business, I
found the industry quite by accident. Literally. It took about 15 years before merchant acquiring emerged as
I was at a conference hotel (not sure which city) a standalone business. That's how long it took FIs to accept
L when I happened upon a handout bearing the that selling card acceptance to millions of merchants—and
logo of a group called the Bankcard Services Association.
I had been writing about electronic payments for over a
decade but had written little about credit card acquiring. Contributed articles inside by:
Over the next few years, the BSA became the ETA, and I
met Paul H. Green. An industry pioneer, he was keen on
educating the next generation of "feet on the street," with a Jake Moore..............................................................................................18
little mischief on the side. He created The Green Sheet Inc.
to further both objectives. Ken Musante ..........................................................................................20
Nick Cuuci................................................................................................28
I met Green through another industry legend, the
independent consultant Paul Martaus. To my knowledge, Adam Bucci and Bill M. Petti ............................................................30
Martaus did not have a financial interest in any business Peter Galvin ............................................................................................33
connected to bankcards, but he understood the business
and the players better than most. Now retired, both men
left indelible marks on this industry.

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