Calling card were introduced in Italy by the vending machine company SIDA in 1975 as a response to phone booth coin theft. Equipped with a magnetic strip, the card's encrypted number was read by the machine when the card was swiped. And 15 years later, the Bell Operating Company introduced cards that used "PIN numbers" and a toll free access number instead of magnetic strips. By 1992, all major U.S. phone companies had a version of calling cards with "PINS."
Calling cards are used for their mobility as well as their convenience. You simply dial the telephone company's 1-800 number, enter your PIN and dial the number you're trying to reach. Cards can be used at any telephone around the globe.
Calling cards come in tree main types--"international," "overseas" and "domestic." International calling cards allow users to make calls to people abroad, while overseas cards allow users to make fixed rate calls in a foreign country. Domestic cards let users make long distance calls at a set rate--often cheaper than standard long distance.
Today calling cards feature a PIN number hidden beneath a scratch off surface not unlike a lottery ticket. Magnetic strips are still used on calling cards, but instead of users swiping them at pay phones, cashiers swipe the cards at registers to activate them. The front of the card displays the monetary value of the card along with the the phone company's logo.
The physical size of a calling card is comparable to the dimensions of a credit card. Cards are thin, plastic and designed to fit in a wallet, pocket or purse--though with the emergence of online card companies, many cards may be virtual. The value of calling cards ranges from about $5 into the hundreds. Online accounts allow users to specify specific dollar amounts instead of the standard store-bought increments of $5, $10, $15, $25 and $100.
