Word: mastercards
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...ropes last week. Big retailers and banks began sharply reducing the borrowing clout of credit-card holders. J.C. Penney stiffened credit requirements, curtailed card promotions and hiked the minimum purchase eligible for time payments from $19 to $200. Banks, which had been deluging customers with Visa and MasterCard (formerly Master Charge) applications, suddenly throttled back the flow of easy credit. New York's Bankers Trust Co. slapped a $500 credit limit on new accounts and froze ceilings on existing credit lines. Chase Manhattan Bank said no to more Visa applications. This week American Express is expected to raise...
...purchases is 18% on an annual basis for the first $500 and 12% on everything above that. But banks are now paying as much as 19% to borrow the money they lend. Citibank, the nation's second largest financial institution, has threatened to incorporate all its Visa and MasterCard business in South Dakota, where bank cards may charge as much as 24%, unless New York raises the level of interest that can be charged. Chicago's First National Bank is instituting a $20 fee for the previously gratis Visa card. Such fees may enable banks to weed...