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CARDNEWS FOR CONSUMERS
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(10/29/04)
Payment Rates
The average amount that consumers pay each month on their credit cards has been steadily rising, hitting a record high in September. The increasing payment rates have slowed the growth of total revolving credit card debt to about 4% per year, a record low.
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(10/28/04)
Gas Cutter
East Coast SUV owners will love a new credit card that gives 10% cash back on gas purchases for the first 90 days, and 5% thereafter. With pump prices well above $2 per gallon, the new "HESS VISA Platinum" card can cut $5 or more off each fill-up during the upcoming holiday season, enough for a "Big 'n Nasty" meal at the local Mickey Dees.
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(10/27/04)
Gen X Debt
Credit card debt among young adults between the age of 25 and 34 has increased 55%, while credit card debt among the youngest adults, between 18 and 24, has skyrocketed 104% since 1992. The average indebted young-adult household (aged 25-34) now spends almost a quarter of every dollar earned on debt payments while the youngest adult households (aged 18-24) spend nearly 30 cents of every dollar earned servicing debt.
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(10/26/04)
Got Float?
Next week could be a nightmare for consumers who make bill payments before depositing their paycheck. The days of playing the float with your checking account will end this week, giving consumers one more reason to pay their bills with a credit card instead of a check.
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(10/25/04)
Blue Rewards
Before the end of this year American Express cardholders enrolled in
the "Membership Rewards" program will be able to transfer points
directly into JetBlue's loyalty program. AmEx and JetBlue have also
launched a "Pack for Paradise" flyaway sweepstakes to celebrate their
new partneship.
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(10/22/04)
Bills on Plastic
Americans will shift $125 billion of household bill payments onto credit and debit cards this year, more than double the figure three years ago. Fast food, another emerging area for payment card use, should top $25 billion this year, double the 2003 level.
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(10/21/04)
Ring-Necked Card
A non-profit conservation organization has teamed up with a major bank to launch a credit card that will help put pheasant habitat on the ground. The new "Pheasants Forever VISA" is aimed at the 2.5 million pheasant hunters across the country.
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(10/20/04)
Merrill Makeover
VISA and Merrill Lynch have teamed to launch a special promotion offering a lifestyle make-over worth $1 million. The "Merrill Lynch Million Dollar Make-Over" offers one grand prize that includes a personal make-over, designer wardrobe, home interior make-over, 2005 Porsche "Boxster S," 25 hours of private jet time, cooking classes with Jacques Pepin, a dream family vacation in Tuscany, and $250,000 in cash.
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(10/19/04)
Gift Cards
About 139 million Americans have purchased and/or received a gift card in the past 12 months, nearly double the 2001 figure. Also, the average number of gift cards purchased by a consumer has increased from 4.1 cards per year to 6.9 cards per year since 2001.
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(10/18/04)
Fatburger Cards
My "Big Fat Gift Card" has been an astonishing hit at the "Last Great Hamburger Stand." Fatburger Restaurants says it is selling six times more in gift sales since it switched from paper gift certificates to plastic gift cards.
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(10/15/04)
Duetto Card
A ground-breaking payment card that combines a general purpose credit card and rewards with a stored-value card is celebrating its first birthday this week. The "Starbucks Card Duetto VISA" enables Starbucks junkies the power to pay, reload, earn and redeem rewards conveniently with one card.
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(10/14/04)
Jet Set
Card perks for the super affluent are taking off as American Express adds new discounts and options for the private jet use. "Platinum" and "Centurion" cardholders now can book private jet services via their cards plus receive service credits toward limousine and catering services, extra flight time, or frequent flyer bonus miles or points.
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(10/13/04)
Aug Dip
After a mid-summer spurt, Americans retreated in August as revolving credit took a dive. During August, consumers lopped-off $3.4 billion in revolving credit, mostly credit card debt.
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(10/12/04)
Schwab VISA
Charles Schwab Bank and MBNA have teamed to offer a new VISA credit card that will have the ability to redeem points for equity trades, starting in mid-November. The new "Charles Schwab Bank VISA" will offer MBNA's "WorldPoints Rewards" program, rewarding cardholders with the typical one point for each dollar charged.
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(10/08/04)
Electric Card
The "Circuit City VISA" card has been rewired with a new rewards program and powered by a new issuer. This week, Chase launched the "Circuit City Rewards VISA" card after acquiring the co-branded program from Circuit City on May 25th.
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(10/07/04)
Bankruptcy Momentum
The momentum in bankruptcy filings continues to slow as filings in August declined 9.0% year-on-year, and 5.7% sequentially. During August, 125,783 filings were made compared to 138,266 for August 2003. Year-to-date bankruptcy filings were 1.06 million, down 3.8% from the same time last year.
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(10/06/04)
Open Season
Six years of legal wrangling over VISA and MasterCard U.S. exclusionary rules came to an end this week as the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, rejected appeals from both card networks. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice, at the urging of American Express, filed an antitrust lawsuit, challenging VISA's "bylaw 210(e)" and MasterCard's "Competitive Programs Policy."
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(10/05/04)
Target Market
If your household income is more than $125,000 per year, you might want to consider a bigger mailbox. Affluent Americans will be targeted heavily over the next year for payment cards as American Express teams up with the nation's third largest VISA and MasterCard issuer.
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(10/04/04)
Card Value
Even though reward programs are heavily promoted by credit card issuers, consumers prefer a low interest rate or no annual fee most of all. Nearly half of Americans (47%) say a low interest rate is the most valuable credit card feature, while one-fourth say no annual fee is the best feature.
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(10/01/04)
IN-NYC Card
American Express is giving its fellow New Yorkers an affinity card next week. The new "IN:NYC Card" offers "INSIDE Rewards" points redeemable for certificates at more than 70 New York City establishments
or for one-of-a-kind experiential rewards.
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