Word: bankcard
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...amount of each purchase that a customer makes. Throw in late fees, or in GE's case early fees, and margins might be enhanced further. "Banks earn more from credit cards than from any other business, even with all the delinquencies and losses," says Ruth Susswein, executive director of Bankcard Holders of America, a Virginia-based consumer group. "Even if you pay no annual fee, they still make money off merchants...
...entering the business, and the result is some welcome relief for the consumer. Card issuers are changing the rules as they go, cutting prices, waiving fees and offering an inventive array of new services. "The heat is on in the credit-card industry," says Robert McKinley, publisher of Bankcard Update, an industry newsletter. "Nonbanks are finally putting pressure on the banks to lower their rates...
Consumer groups, however, were not ready to applaud. "That's a good first step, but they haven't gone far enough," said Marla Kaplan, associate director of Bankcard Holders of America, a consumer advice service that claims some 100,000 members. "It's time rates came down still farther." Alan Fox, chief lobbyist for the Consumer Federation of America, said cardholders could save $500 million a year if the average credit rate dropped to 17.1%. A recent federation study estimated that consumers spend a whopping $6 billion a year in interest on purchases made with bank cards...
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