CardTrak.com Celebrates An Anniversary

Credit cards have been around for a long time. Yet, it took some time before consumers were able to easily find advice and get help when it came to managing their credit cards. In fact, the first credit card advisory site wasn’t launched until twelve years ago. The site, CardTrak.com, finally became established online nine years after being formed and recently celebrated an anniversary.

The history of the company started with the its launch in October of 1986. The company began by starting a database of credit card programs, which was the first national database of its kind. When the company launched, it offered the information it had gathered for $10 a pop, with the directories containing information from seven regional Bankcard Directories that were gathered each year.

The company was the first to actually empower consumers and make it possible for them to do comparison shopping before applying for a credit card. By 1988, the company started to publish a shorter version of the information each month. This shortened version, which cost 50 cents each, was referred to as simply the “Bankcard List.” One of the draws to this list was that it put together the best credit card offers available, which made it easier for consumers to sort through all of the available programs.

By 1991, credit cards were really booming. This inspired the company to create the CardTrak newsletter, which was also published each month and cost $5 per copy. In addition to providing information on the best credit card offers, the revamped newsletter categorized the credit cards and also included some of the latest news from within the industry.

By September of 1995, the company had launched a web site, which was officially launched at the annual American Bankers Association convention.  Moving online gave the company the flexibility to offer a greater number of customer service options and allowed it to change how they were charging consumers for the valuable information it provided. Alternatively, the company switched to an advertising format in order to generate revenue.

CardTrak.com and the newsletters that preceded it really helped consumers when it came to making better choices about card solicitations. It also helped to educate consumers, as many were unaware of their rights when it came to credit card usage. According to founder Robert B. McKinley, many people didn’t realize that they could have more than one credit card or that they could have a credit card from an issuer that was out-of-state. Many also failed to realize that different rates were charged by different cards.

We’ve come a long way since those days! And, though CardTrak.com may have pioneered these types of sites, there are many out there today that offer valuable information to consumers. Therefore, it is in the consumer’s best interest to consider all the information provided from multiple resources to make the best decision.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 at 5:19 pm and is filed under Credit Card News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.