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CARDNEWS FOR CONSUMERS
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(11/30/04)
Paw Card
Those cuddly little "Boyds Bears" have landed their own credit card. Cleveland-based National City has launched a co-branded card with PA-based The Boyds Collection Ltd. The new "Boyds Bears VISA Platinum" credit card offers one collectible bear for the first card purchase or balance transfer, and "Paw Points" for each transaction thereafter.
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(11/29/04)
Plastic Volume
Americans made $598.8 billion in purchases and cash advances on VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover credit and debit cards during the third quarter of this year. Through September 30th, consumers charged more than $1.7 trillion on major credit cards and signature debit cards this year.
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(11/24/04)
Black Days
While there is a lot of yackety-yak about "Black Friday," the blackest days will likely be December 11th, 18th and 23rd. If you want to avoid lines at the payment register try November 29th and 30th, as well as December 6th and 7th.
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(11/23/04)
Secret History
The skinny on the credit card business will be available to you tonight when PBS airs the "Secret History of the Credit Card" on FRONTLINE. The 60-minute commercial-free documentary reveals how banks developed the credit card business into an industry with $30 billion in annual profits.
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(11/22/04)
Card Debt
While 185 million Americans have at least one credit card, only 144 million consumers have at least one bank credit card. Over the past 10 years the average revolving bank credit card balance per carded American household has more than doubled from $2,942 to $7,519.
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(11/18/04)
PrimeLock
If you've got pristine credit you might be able to qualify for a free
major credit card that carries an interest rate equal to the prime rate.
Now that interest rates are rising, Capital One has introduced the
"PrimeLock Platinum Card" which adjusts its interest rate monthly
according to the current prime rate, now 5.0%.
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(11/15/04)
Fancy Cards
MasterCard and VISA are experimenting overseas with some fancy cards. MasterCard has come up with series of jewel-encrusted card cases and VISA is adding light and sound to its cards.
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(11/12/04)
Sept Debt
The roller coaster trend in revolving credit resumed in September as revolving credit soared at an annual rate of 10% after declining more than 3% in August. During September, consumers piled on more than $6 billion in revolving credit, mostly credit card debt.
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(11/10/04)
5% Prime
The Fed helped push credit card rates higher just ahead of the holiday spending season, by increasing short-term interest rates by 25 basis points (0.25%). The prime rate, which is used by most credit card issuers, will hit 5.00%, compared to 4.00% at the beginning of the summer.
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(11/9/04)
Kmart Rewards
Kmart has launched a new store credit card that carries special rewards. The new "Kmart Rewards" credit card offers $10 off the first card purchase of $50 or more and a $10 reward for every $250 in account purchases thereafter.
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(11/8/04)
MBNA AmEx Card
As planned earlier this year, MBNA, a major VISA and MasterCard issuer, launched an American Express card, the first U.S. card issuer to do so. MBNA says it has already issued more than 300,000 American Express-branded cards to-date from initial pre-selling efforts.
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(11/5/04)
Java & News
"All the News That's Fit to Print," "All the Coffee That's Hip to Drink," and the card that is "Everywhere You Want to Be" have come together in a special offer. Through December 31st, the
"Starbucks Card Duetto VISA" is offering new cardholders a free six-week
subscription to The New York Times Sunday edition. Additionally new
cardholders get $10 "Duetto" dollars loaded on their card.
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(11/4/04)
Bankruptcy Steady
While bankruptcy filings are down more than 3% this year, the number of filings in September nearly matched the number filed in September 2003. During September, 127,664 filings were made compared to 127,079 for September 2003.
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(11/3/04)
Gift Cards 04
The number of consumers who purchase gift cards for themselves has skyrocketed from 2% in 2003 to 21% this year. Of these self-givers, one in five say they use the cards to purchase cheaper gas from large discounters where cash and credit are not accepted at the pump.
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