Access was a credit card introduced in 1972 in the UK by four major banks, NatWest, Midland, Lloyds Bank & The Royal Bank of Scotland as a rival to the established Barclaycard. It was also issued in the Republic of Ireland, by banks including Ulster Bank, a NatWest subsidiary, and Bank of Ireland, a public limited company unconnected to the founder banks. The card scheme was run from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, by the Joint Credit Card Company.

One of the early slogans was: 'Your flexible friend'; another slogan which featured in a television commercial was "does you does, or does you don't take Access", accompanied by an animated Access, and his friend Money (a wallet). The Access brand disappeared in the 1990s, becoming part of MasterCard. However, as of 2006 some shops still advertise as taking the Access card, because they haven't removed old posters/stickers in their stores. This causes some amusement as well as delight to consumers.

External link

• A short history of plastic cards

Credit cards