Word: issuers
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Happily, the past couple of years have seen many credit-card rates fall. If the rate you pay remains high, call the issuer and ask for a lower rate or to have the annual fee waived -- or both. Believe it or not, many credit-card issuers will do this rather than lose you to a lower-priced competitor...
...nation's leading producer of electronic cash registers and the world's largest manufacturer of automated teller machines for banks. The company is the third biggest issuer of credit cards, behind only American Express and Citibank. It has also expanded into the field of multimedia (machines that can combine text, graphics, sound and video) by buying pieces of EO, interactive computer maker 3DO Co. and software start-up General Magic. Earlier this month, the phone giant entered the video-game business through a joint venture with Sega Enterprises that will enable players to take on opponents over...
Citibank, largest issuer of credit cards in the U.S., announced that as of June 1 it will reward its best customers with lower credit-card interest rates -- as little as 13.9% for Preferred Members. Other banks will probably follow, taking the bite out of congressional complaints about high rates and starting a war that consumers...
...cards are in the penalty box, stashed away by consumers who are trying to get their spending under control. But these aren't normal times. Right now, fully half of Citicorp's 30 million Visa and MasterCards are dormant. To chairman John Reed, that's worrisome. As the % largest issuer of such cards, Citicorp relies on the profit from those operations (last year: $610 million) to offset disasters like the depression in commercial real estate. As Americans get serious about whittling down their debts, the profit cushion for many bankers is getting uncomfortably thin...
...issuers covet the rich profits that can be reaped from installment credit. Banks that issue general-use credit cards, like the 420 million Visa and MasterCards in circulation worldwide, have been borrowing funds in the U.S. at 9% to 10% interest and loaning those funds out on plastic at as much as 22%. For banks stuck with Third World loans and rancid real estate, that spells salvation. At the 10 largest banks in the business, which hold 48% of all outstanding card debt, credit cards account for 25% of profits. Citibank, the largest issuer, cleared $610 million in profits...