The “economic identification” of consumers. From face-to-face credit to automated consumer credit: a case study in France

We explore the transformation of consumer credit markets in France through the twentieth-century from a case study. The local, face-to-face credit market in Lens, northern France, developed against a background of immigration and so was not based on pre-existing social networks but on the attractiveness of credit and of the goods on offer. The entrepreneurs involved innovated by connecting together the Parisian textile networks and demand from working-class Polish families. They profited from their belonging to both Jewish and Polish communities. This credit was expensive, carried no interest, was inseparable from the goods sold and the home service provided, and was not understood by the authorities, staying in a black hole of state control. Two processes put an end to it: (i) the disappearance of a way of life, of the captive customer base, complicating face-to-face identification and requiring use of the state’s means of identification (vital statistics records, identity cards)—with the state guaranteeing the identity of those involved on the market and extending business beyond networks of acquaintances—and (ii) legislative action and reorganization of credit activities to the advantage of commercial banks. The specificity of French credit market is that this is the state which first shaped markets in a move to standardize the economy. This formalization was extended by banks that progressively provided credit regardless of any personal relations