The proliferation of credit cards happened before the proliferation of the internet. How did credit cards work before the internet?

Question

The proliferation of credit cards happened before the proliferation of the internet. How did credit cards work before the internet?

In: 155

Answer 1

As recently as the 1990s there was a department store chain in Michigan, Jacobson’s, that accepted only its own credit card. The salesman filled out a sales form in pencil, had the customer sign it, and it went up to the accounting department. One reason for this was to keep the store quiet and not have registers and printers making a racket. I don’t know why forms were done in pencil, though.