Bankcard is a joint brand credit card issued by financial institutions in Australia and New Zealand between 1974 and 2006. It is managed by Bankcard Association of Australia , Australia's largest bank joint venture bank, and is the first mass market credit card in the country. Prior to 1974, only store cards, Diners Club and American Express were available in Australia and this was strict or accessible only to the rich.
In the first decade after its introduction, Bankcard dominated the Australian credit card market, with over 5 million cardholders at its peak in 1984. As a result of declining cardholder bases, decreased transaction volumes and shrinking market share in relation to credit received internationally cards such as Visa and MasterCard, cards withdrawn from use in 2006.
Video Bankcard
History
Prior to Bankcard, Australia's relatively small population, coupled with its extensive geographic spread made credit card system fees expensive for every Australian bank. In the early 1970s a number of banks joined forces to seek approval from the Reserve Bank of Australia and Australian Federal Treasury to start credit card schemes on Australian financial markets.
Approval was granted in 1972. The banks formed the company, Charge the Limited Service Card , to manage Bankcard and process credit card transactions. Each member bank issued a variant of each Bankcard card and each established its own credit rules and maintained a direct customer relationship with the cardholder himself. Bankcard was officially launched in October 1974 by Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.
A significant marketing campaign follows the card launch. This includes Australia's largest live direct marketing campaign to date. Among other things, banks post cards with A $ 300 credit limit to potential clients, following their account analytics. In 1974, David Jones became the first major retail organization to receive Bankcard and in 1976 the card was accepted by almost all Australian departmental networks. Within 18 months of card issues, there are over one million card holders, representing over 6% of Australia's population. 1983 saw Bankcard expansion into New Zealand. In 1984, there were more than five million cardholders in Australia and New Zealand.
In 1986 there was a dispute between banks over whether Bankcard would be included in the new electronic banking EFTPOS system. At that time, Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank greatly promoted MasterCard and only provided minimal support to the Bankcards they expended, while National Australia Bank, ANZ and state banks all supported Bankcard. The banks reach an agreement whereby the magnetic strips will be placed on all Bank Cards, allowing them to be used in the EFTPOS system.
Maps Bankcard
Withdrawal
In early 2006, the number of cardholders has decreased to about one million. The popularity of the card has decreased when other credit card options are available. Bankcard is significantly limited by the lack of acceptance outside of Australia and New Zealand. Nevertheless, Bankcard continues to generate profits for member banks, largely due to the old demographic of cardholders having a low incidence of failures.
However, in February 2006, the Bankcard Association of Australia announced it would terminate Bankcard by the end of the year, citing the tremendous growth of credit card operations and technological improvements that allowed member banks to perform their own data retrieval and processing at home.. The existing cardholder is offered an alternative credit card by the issuing bank.
At the time of this announcement, National Australia Bank remains the only bank still issuing Bankcard. Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank have stopped issuing cards in June and December 2005 respectively. Merchants in Australia can accept Bank cards until the end of 2006. Bankcard operations closed in New Zealand in October 2005.
Cultural impact
Bankcard is the first widely available credit card issued by Australian banks for general consumption. Banks are actively trying to educate consumers about how to use credit cards and "revolutionize" the way Australian consumers pay for goods and services. According to Gregory Melleuish, the introduction of Bankcard helped speed up the process of consumerism formation in Australia.
At Bankcard's withdrawal in 2006, retailer Gerry Harvey stated that credit cards had "inspired, or enabled, more people to buy on credit and sales of all retailers increased." Supriya Singh, a professor at RMIT, argues that the introduction of Bankcard marks the beginning of Australia's transformation into "virtual money". The availability of credit cards in Australia after 1974, along with wider financial deregulation, resulted in a significant increase in household debt.
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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