Edward Bellamy. Inventor of the "Credit Card"?

[PHC1]

Once again, facts are stranger than fiction.

In 1888, a college dropout utopian science fiction writer named Edward Bellamy wrote a science fiction novel "Looking Backward"...


The following are quotes from the book. This was just a man punching away at his typewriter in 1888....


… a credit card issued him with which he procures at the public storehouses, found in every community, whatever he desires whenever he desires it. This arrangement, you will see, totally obviates the necessity for business transactions of any sort between individuals and consumers.
– Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward, 1888


“The duplicate of the order,” said Edith as she turned away from the counter, after the clerk had punched the value of her purchase out of the credit card she gave him, “is given to the purchaser, so that any mistakes in filling it can be easily traced and rectified.”
– Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward, 1888


“An American credit card,” replied Dr. Leete, “is just as good in Europe as American gold used to be, and on precisely the same condition, namely, that it be exchanged into the currency of the country you are traveling in.”
– Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward, 1888

[PHC1]

By the way, in the book, the character goes to sleep in 1888 and wakes up in the year 2000. Hence the title "Looking Backward"