Credit has played a key role in human commerce for centuries. However, the modern idea of a credit card – a single charge account managed by a third party that can be used with multiple merchants – has its roots in a 1949 New York City dinner between Frank McNamara of the Hamilton Credit Corporation and Alfred Bloomingdale, grandson of the famous department store founder. As they went to pay the check, McNamara realized he'd forgotten his wallet and had to ask his wife to bring him cash. Mortified, the banker later teamed up with Bloomingdale to turn a personal embarrassment into a new financial product: the Diners Club card. Launched in 1950, the new card targeted traveling salesmen who had to take clients out to eat at multiple locations. The going was initially tough: not all restaurants wanted to pay a charge for a credit service they were already offering in-house - prior to Diners Club, larger stores and restaurants often offered customers their own private credit services. But while the first 200 cardholders were mainly personal friends of McNamara, success didn't take long: by the end of its first year, 20,000 people were Diners Club members.