[rfinney]

We did. We had American Express, Diner's Club, Discover (the old Sears) ,department store cards, gas station cards, Bankamericard (Visa) and Interbank (Mastercard). In the 1960s there were hundreds of credit cards. Visa and Mastercard won the free market battle.

[munk-a]

Forming a cartel is not "winning a free market battle" it is kicking the free market out of your business domain.