Graham Nye wrote:

It wasn't *that* long ago when John Lewis would only accept their own
credit card.

And Marks & Sparks wouldn't accept any.

I must be imagining everything I've purchased there on my cards.

They used not to accept credit cards. It has been a while since
they started accepting them. They now offer their own branded
credit card.


That's going back a while - they were accepting them all the time over a
decade ago.

Was the change when cards started to be swiped, rather than jerking a
massive roller over them?
--
My blog: http://adf.ly/4hi4c

Graeme Wall wrote:

And Marks& Sparks wouldn't accept any.

I must be imagining everything I've purchased there on my cards.

They used not to accept credit cards. It has been a while since
they started accepting them. They now offer their own branded
credit card.

Apparently they started accepting cards in 2001.

Ah - that was the year I started working for them and it was never an issue
back then.

Is it just my age or was it only around the turn of the millenium that the
debit card really took off?
--
My blog: http://adf.ly/4hi4c

On 26/05/2012 13:19, Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:
Graeme Wall wrote:

And Marks& Sparks wouldn't accept any.

I must be imagining everything I've purchased there on my cards.

They used not to accept credit cards. It has been a while since
they started accepting them. They now offer their own branded
credit card.

Apparently they started accepting cards in 2001.

Ah - that was the year I started working for them and it was never an issue
back then.

Is it just my age or was it only around the turn of the millenium that the
debit card really took off?

Probably, I first came across a debit card as an extension of a cheque
guarantee card around then.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

On May 26, 12:02*pm, "Tim Roll-Pickering" T.C.Roll-
wrote:
Graeme Wall wrote:
In the UK it is extremely difficult to find anything that takes the
one that doesn't take the other.
Aldi and Lidl.
Perhaps you have never heard of them.
It wasn't *that* long ago when John Lewis would only accept their own
credit card.
And Marks & Sparks wouldn't accept any.

I must be imagining everything I've purchased there on my cards.

Note the past tense. It's only quite recently (for those of us d'une
certaine age) that they've started accepting them. Around the same
time they started allowing you to try clothes on, as I recall.

ian

In message , at 13:19:09 on Sat, 26 May
2012, Tim Roll-Pickering remarked:
Is it just my age or was it only around the turn of the millenium that the
debit card really took off?

The Natwest Maestro/Switch debit card was well into its stride 20 years
ago (replacing their Servicetill cashcard that was launched in the mid
70's).
--
Roland Perry

On 26/05/12 09:20, Bruce wrote:
Aldi and Lidl.

Perhaps you have never heard of them.

Aldi accepts credit cards in Scotland, and some Welsh branches.

Lidl accepts credit cards in Northern Ireland, in Aberystwyth, and
probably elsewhere.

Ian

On 26/05/12 14:43, Roland Perry wrote:
The Natwest Maestro/Switch debit card was well into its stride 20 years
ago (replacing their Servicetill cashcard that was launched in the mid
70's).

Clydesdale Bank AutoBank cards could be used at asome petrol stations
round Glasgow from the early eighties. I think they were the first
generally available UK debit cards, but doubtless someone will correct
me. Very advanced place, the Clydesdale - their branches went completely
paperless in the late seventies. The Royal Bank of Scotland only caught
up last year ...

Ian

On 26/05/12 13:19, Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:
Is it just my age or was it only around the turn of the millenium that the
debit card really took off?

No. All* current accounts came with one when I got my first account in
1994, and they'd been in common use for a good few years before that.

Roger

In message , at 16:13:59 on Sat, 26 May
2012, The Real Doctor remarked:

Clydesdale Bank AutoBank cards could be used at asome petrol stations
round Glasgow from the early eighties. I think they were the first
generally available UK debit cards, but doubtless someone will correct
me.

That's very early. I had Natwest Servicetill and Halifax ATM cards in
the mid 70's, but they were not general purpose debit cards.

Around that time Amex also started allowing cash advances from their own
branded ATMs with their own cards. But the machines were quite rare.

I remember even as late as 1989 having to get a Switch card
pre-authorised by "Customer services" to use it to buy things at
Sainsburys. They wouldn't even allow their own card to be used at the
tills - the solution was "go outside and get the cash from the ATM".
--
Roland Perry

On Sat, 26 May 2012 17:20:22 +0100, Roger Lynn
wrote:

On 26/05/12 13:19, Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:
Is it just my age or was it only around the turn of the millenium that the
debit card really took off?

No. All* current accounts came with one when I got my first account in
1994, and they'd been in common use for a good few years before that.

They don't come with all current accounts; they are usually offered by
default with current accounts held by private individuals. While
cheque guarantee cards were generally available there was often an
option to have only the guarantee card in place of a debit/guarantee
card.