All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
UK card fees in the spotlight
Following cuts ordered to default fees in 2006, card issuers charging practices have come under the spotlight As consumer bodies call for simplified card pricing, will UK regulators now take a harder line with UK card issuers?
Fees affect US card balance transfers
US issuers have slowly but surely reintroduced balance transfer fees as profitability in the cards market has tightened, but with interest rate competitiveness a more important factor, consumers arent biting like they used to The number of consumers conducting balance transfers is declining fairly steadily, according to new research from Auriemma Consulting Group
First Data approves buyout by KKR; TSYS mulls spin-off
Concerns about the turmoil occurring in the global credit market due to the US subprime mortgage crisis threatened to take the deal off track, but Ric Duques, First Data chairman and CEO, said the acquisition will close in the third quarter of this year, even if only short-term finance is secured.
RBS and Barclays report improving credit conditions
Both banks cite an easing in bad debt levels in the UK retail credit market, although pressures on lending volumes remain.
MasterCard profits up, shares drop
MasterCards second-quarter results continued an upward momentum to reach the highest quarterly net revenues recorded by the company However, profit margins were much smaller than many industry analysts had anticipated and led to the card networks share prices dropping by 12.5 percent following the results announcement. Net income for the second quarter rose by 93.1 percent to reach $195 million, excluding special items, and net income of $252 million including special items
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Region round-up
Total Canadian debit and credit card purchases grew at a CAGR of 15 percent between 2000 and 2006, reaching C$336 billion ($319 billion) in 2006…
Chinese banks on credit growth path
Foreign and domestic issuers alike are attracted by the recent phenomenal rates of growth in card numbers, and, of course, the potential of a market with 1.3 billion people
Revolving credit under attack
The worlds largest revolving credit card market, the US, is currently facing the prospect of faltering spending and increasing regulatory and economic pressure
Competition brings new challenges
The credit card profitability challenge was the theme for this years Asian Cards User Groups annual conference, held in Siem Reap, Cambodia in early August 2007 As Asian card markets become increasingly competitive, the challenges facing them intensify and require new strategies to combat. The 15th annual Asian Cards User Group (ACU) Conference was attended by over 100 delegates from several countries across Asia-Pacific
AmBank builds scale through cards
In the Asia-Pacific region, many card issuers are building up their operations through networks of partnerships and alliances. Titien Ahmad reports