Quite naturally, I started looking at how other major providers - Mastercard, Amex and Discover caught up to this interbank transaction labyrinth. Here's what I think after a quick look.
- Mastercard seems to have been a direct response to the growing popularity and profits of BankAmericard. [1] It started about the same time (mid 1960-s) which probably explains its growth and ability to bring enough banks in its fold.
- American Express was founded back in 1850 [2]. If I go by the original article, it appears Amex was not on the credit scene (certainly not the pioneer?) during the Americard boom. Do we know how it compensated and captured almost a quarter of the market in the US [2]? Second-mover advantage?
- Discover is the "third largest credit card brand in the United States, when measured by cards in force, with nearly 50 million cardholders" [3]. Two key acquisitions may be explain this - Pulse (an interbank electronic funds transfer network) and Diners Club (the original daddy from the article). There is no citation the Pulse acquisition but I'd assume it is an old network. The Diners Club network probably was a healthy addition to their customer base outside the US.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastercard [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Express [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discover_Financial