Fifty years ago this week one little piece of plastic changed all our lives for ever

money you did not have. In the 1960s many people did not even have a bank account and received their wages every week in brown envelopes in cash.

In fact in the 1960s a woman with her own cheque book was a rare bird indeed. The only reason that I possessed a bank account was because I had been to university and the account was opened to receive my student grant. Ah, those were the days when we were paid to go to university. But ordinary female workers, such as nurses or typists, would be unlikely to have their own accounts.

And then even if you did have a bank account, credit was extremely hard to come by although it was always easier for men than women. In order to qualify you had to have a personal interview with your bank manager, usually a pompous Mr Mainwaring type out of Dad’s Army – and who delighted in making you feel very small indeed.

He – and it always was a he – would decide whether or not you deserved an overdraft after making you squirm and wriggle in fear for an hour. If you dared to go overdrawn without this arrangement and into the red – quite literally, as your negative balance would be shown in red – your cheque would bounce.

You always had to have enough money in your account to make a purchase or your cheque would not be honoured. In fact many shops in those days had signs in the window saying, “Do not ask for credit as a refusal may offend.”

Not that cheques always got you out of trouble even if your account was full to bursting because many places, including cinemas and restaurants, did not accept cheques anyway. So often unless you had the ready money you were stuck.

To make things even worse there were no ATMs in the 1960s, banks closed at 3pm and were shut on Saturdays. Looking back I do not really know how we managed but in the event credit cards changed not only the way we shopped but the way we thought about money.

Our parents were terrified of debt and we grew up equally terrified until credit cards made us easier in our minds about owing money. Indeed a famous slogan for a later credit card claimed that it took the waiting out of wanting and from then on debt became OK and even a badge of honour.

Well, 50 years have passed and I have remained loyal to my original credit card even though like most people my wallet is now stuffed with cards of all kinds. My credit card has long outlasted my marriage and continues to be used daily although with extreme caution. I always pay it off in full every month as I am still old-fashioned enough to be frightened of debt.

The days when women were treated as financial airheads are long gone but it took that initial little bit of plastic half a century ago to set the process in motion.