oseph P. Williams was an executive at Bank Of America in the 1950s when he devised and oversaw the bank's new way to expand credit offered to customers with a revolutionary product. His BankAmericard was the first widely distributed credit card to provide customers with an instant loan by allowing them to carry a balance at the end of the month.

Williams died in Atlantis, Fla., at the age of 88 on November 8, 2003.

In the mid-1950s, Williams was a Senior Vice President at BofA and leading a research project to create products and approaches to customer service. Credit was not a new concept up to that point-Williams' plan simply put a new spin on the old idea of paying on time, making it accessible and easy to come by.

In ancient times, those who couldn't repay loans in Assyria, Egypt and Babylon ended up in debtors' prison or as slaves. In the Middle Ages, religious leaders set limits on interest that could be charged. The first advertisement for buying merchandise on credit was published in 1730. Through the 18th century-especially in the United States following the Civil War-and in the 19th and 20th centuries, people continued to be able buy on credit. In the 1920s, credit cards were available, but not widely popular or accepted.

Local department stores and a few retail chains, including Sears, Roebuck and Co., had been offering proprietary cards to their customers for specific use in their stores since the 1920s. Hotel chains and oil companies also offered credit cards, a practice that increased significantly after World War II. Some smaller, regional banks issued credit cards starting in the late 1940s; by 1955, about 100 local banks offered cards that let customers pay over time.

The only national, or "universal," card-one that could be used at a variety of stores and businesses-available to consumers was the Diners Club card; it was the first major travel and entertainment card. Introduced in 1950, it was followed by American Express and Carte Blanche shortly afterward. Customers were required to pay balances on these early universal cards at the end of the month.

Williams' plan expanded on those practices, offering BofA customers throughout the state of California initial credit limits of $300 to $500 and balances that could be paid off over time. Customers who chose to pay only part of the balance would be charged a fee.

The program had the widest introduction ever attempted, with the first BankAmericards distributed to 60,000 residents of Fresno, Calif. in 1958. Over the next 15 months, an additional two million cards were mailed throughout the state, offering pre-approved credit to a much wider customer base than ever before. While these "paperless loans" caught on quickly, they were not trouble-free.

According to a New York Times article, the cards created merchant resentment and cardholder delinquencies. BofA lost $8.8 million following the cards' introduction.

Williams resigned his position with the bank two months after the introduction ended; he said in an interview later in his life that he had become the "fall guy" for the program's initial problems and was forced out of his job.

BankAmericard gained national licensing and distribution in 1966. The association of banks formed to run the program renamed it 'Visa' by 1977. The establishment of standards for the magnetic strip in 1970 made credit cards part of the information age. Americans now charge over $1 trillion on credit every year-more than they spend in cash.

For better or for worse, Williams' legacy lives on.