From pawn to plastic

A global history of consumer credit

12 Jun 2026 at 8:03am

Milan, Italy

eabh in cooperation with Mediobanca.

This conference explores the long-run global history of consumer credit, from pawnshops and instalment plans to credit cards and digital lending.

Historians, economists, legal scholars, practitioners and archivists are invited to present research on changing attitudes, institutions, instruments and regulations  that shape household borrowing.

 

Programme

08:30 Coffee 09:00 Welcome speech tbc (Mediobanca) 09:15 Opening Hugo Bänziger, Chairperson (eabh) 09:30 Keynote Chiara Frigerio (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) - invited 10:00 Early credit and lending to the poor Mauro Carboni & Massimo Fornasari (University of Bologna) Lending to the working poor in early modern Italy: Lessons from the past Carlos A. Brando (Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá) Piety in crisis: Banking to the poor during the Great Depression: The Municipal Pawn Bank of Bogotá Q&A/Discussion 10:45 Coffee 11:15 The rise of consumer credit markets Mario Robiony (Mediobanca & University of Udine) Inventing consumer credit: Compass and the transformation of instalment sales in Postwar Italy Tomás Nougués (UNSAM/ CONICET) Social policy and the long expansion of consumer credit in Argentina Q&A/Discussion 12:00 Technologies of consumer credit Klara Järgenstedt (Universtiy of Gothenburg) The Bankomat: A parenthesis between paper, plastic and silicon Matteo Risi (Politecnico di Milano) BNPL in Italy: Market trends, consumer insights, and regulatory shifts Q&A/Discussion 12:45 Lunch 13:45 Keynote Sean Vanatta (University of Glasgow) Plastic capitalism: US credit cards in global perspective 14:15 Institutions and regulation of consumer credit Marion Lacoume (BNP Paribas) Consumer credit: From punch cards to computers (1950s -1970s) João Rafael Cunha (University of St Andrews) The financial regulatory cycle and the long history of consumer credit regulation Q&A/Discussion 15:00 Coffee 15:30 Round table & closing 16:30 End of conference day If not otherwise specified, all events take place at Mediobanca, Via Filodrammatici 3, Milan