UATP History
Celebrating 70 years of service and innovation in 2006. Since 1936, UATP has been leading the way in expert service and technological innovations for travel credit products.
World's first charge card
UATP's business model today still follows the original concept of selling travel at bulk discounts using a low-cost form of payment.
Revolutionary innovations
Although it may not be widely recognized, UATP has been a silent giant in credit innovations. UATP developed the numbering system that is found on the world's credit cards Starting in 1936, UATP assigned each customer a number beginning with “one.” Subsequently, all UATP card numbers begin with the number “1.” Hence, ONLY UATP can boast being the number one credit card. Take a look.....
Did You Know?
UATP has the lowest fraud rates in the industry.
UATP invented the magnetic stripe, found on the back of all credit cards.
To automate ticketing, the stripe technology was developed in 1969. To offer faster, more secure credit and prevent fraud, in 1971 UATP expanded the stripe's use to include a verification system.
For convenience, UATP introduced the first lodged credit accounts allowing centrally billed charge transactions without carrying a physical card. This popular program now accounts for the majority of UATP sales.