The History of Prepaid Phone Cards

In 1975 the idea of a prepaid phone cards was first brainstormed by SIDA; a vending machine manufacturer and distributor located in Italy. In the fall of 1975 SIDA sought alternative means to using coins to operate pay phones. At the time there was a shortage of medal coins in Italy and pay phone vandalism was becoming overbearing. Phones were often being destroyed, or stolen.

Just a few months later, in early 1976 came the release of the first phone card. Cards were printed on thin cardboard with a magnetic strip as result of dealing with the coin shortage. Pay phone users would insert the card into the pay phone and it would start deducting minutes from your card. Like many new products, problems arose from the first batch of phone cards. They were to thin and consistently jammed the pay phone>.

Just one year after the introduction of phone cards, their novelties had spread across the continent. By 1977 Austria, France, Sweden and The United Kingdom were among the first in Europe to adapt to the new phone card system.

About five years later in 1982, prepaid phone cards were introduced in Japan. Similar to Europe, Japan was also having a coin shortage problem. Therefore, using a calling card was an easy solution to their problems. Nippon Telephone and Telegraph, a prominent telecommunications company in Japan, was the first company to release phone cards. They were sold throughout the subway in Tokyo and Osaka.

Since the invention of phone cards, companies throughout Europe and Japan continuously worked to improved the quality. In 1984 the first chip-based "smart cards" were introduced in France.

Almost ten years after, the eastern world had been successfully using phone cards they were introduced to the United States in 1987 by World Telecom Group. Siemens and General Electric were responsible for the distribution of the cards. Using their own technology they created a magstripe, which was an upgrade from the European version of smart cards. The magstripe is commonly seen today on the backside of credit cards, the magnetic strip. The magstripe contains a variety of information, including your name, card number, address and more.

The development and practicality of calling cards continued to grow. In 1988 Dr. Steve Hiscocks assembled the first calling card catalog. It was distributed in England to prepaid phone card collectors.