The four banks (UCB, Wells, Crocker, and Bank of California) joined together to issue this card. They did this to compete with Bank of America. It was really Marine Midland out of Buffalo, New York that helped make Master Charge national. Until that time there were only regional card programs like: Mid-West Card Assiocation and CAP in New England.
Master Charge was the early leader in sigining up banks, because banks felt Master Charge was a more open assiocation. Banks did not want to feel that they were promoting Bank of America by issuing a BankAmerica card. It was only after the success of Master Charge that Bank of America spun off BankAmericard into the National BankAmericard Incorperated (NBI). NBI became Visa in 1977.
When was "Master Charge" created by the United California Bank?
