Hi everyone, it's Madupa here.

Today we're sharing an episode of a podcast we think you'll love.

It's been handpicked by the TED staff, and we think that as TED business listeners, you'll come away with a fresh idea and a totally new perspective.

Enjoy and head to the link in the description for more.

In 1949, businessman Frank McNamara was about to pay for dinner when he realized something terrible.

He'd forgotten his wallet.

While this scenario isn't that uncommon, McNamara's response was, determined to ensure he'd never be caught without cash again.

He invented the dynes club card, a wallet-sized piece of cardboard that allowed carriers to dine

at associated restaurants and settle their bills at the end of

each month. McNamara wasn't the first person to codify the IOU. There's evidence of deferred

payment systems stretching all the way back to ancient Mesopotamia. In America's Wild West,

ranches and farmers used metal plates as credit placeholders.

And just a few years before McNamara's dining disaster,

many department stores and airlines had already begun rolling out reward programs and charge cards.

But the Diner's Club card was different.

Where previous credit arrangements saw one business authorising credit for one individual.

McNamara's card gave users credit with over two dozen otherwise unassociated businesses.

This decentralized credit was revolutionary and in just one year, the Diners Club card gained 10,000 users. Soon, several U.S US banks recruited local merchants and launched their own credit

programs. For these merchants, credit cards provided increased business and upfront financing.

For consumers, the cards offered financial flexibility, allowing them to make larger purchases

so long as they could pay them off at the end of each month.

And the banks profited from small fees on each transaction.

...