Finance:Medi Script

Medi Script was North America’s first instant credit system. Developed in 1965-67 by the West brothers in Vancouver , B.C., Canada, the system was designed to provide consumer credit at the retail store level, something that did not exist at that point in history.

At that time the Canadian chartered banks controlled all the legal credit granting ability with the exception of vehicle fuel companies like the Esso credit card which was not available to general merchants and shop keepers. The West brothers hoped to change this.

Medi Script was designed to allow individual storeowners and merchants the ability to grant controlled, third party credit to their customers by subscribing for a fee to the Medi Script company who would then in turn provide the active credit for the customers in question.

The name Medi Script was used because of an obscure law at the time that allowed the medical establishment to grant credit.

While salespeople were actively marketing this new idea the Royal Bank of Canada was looking at the Medi Script company with the stated intent of purchasing the company and the rights to the Medi Script concept. During the negotiation process in 1968 the Royal Bank launched their own version dubbed the Chargex Credit card. Subsequently, the deal with the West brothers collapsed and their business collapsed as their idea took on a new life without them.