The Diners Club Story

In 1949, businessman Frank McNamara was entertaining a group of dinner guests in a New York restaurant, only to discover that he had forgotten his wallet. Luckily, the restaurant owner knew him and agreed that he would pay his bill on another occasion. This embarrassing situation inspired McNamara to devise a card to prove the holder's identity and ability to pay. He launched the Diners Club Card, and within a year had a membership of 10,000 culled from the cream of New York society, with 28 restaurants and two hotels prepared to accept monthly billing in respect of this select clientele. Frank McNamara had laid the cornerstone for the world’s first-ever credit card organisation.

In the 1950s Diners Club was the first credit card organisation to introduce travel insurance. The 1960s saw the erstwhile paper card become plastic and captivate Audrey Hepburn in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. In the 1970s Diners Club introduced the first corporate card programme in the industry. A decade later it pioneered the first rewards programme. The Diners Club Card today is welcomed at more than 13 million establishments worldwide.

Since October 2003 Diners Club in UK and Ireland belongs to Citigroup, which alo holds the franchise for France and the Benelux countries.