All articles by Verdict Staff
Verdict Staff
Mixed results for private-label cards
Private-label cards are an important revenue stream for issuers, and moving on from their beginnings as a niche offering they are now becoming increasingly important in the mainstream payments space, particularly for retail and fleet cards
Citi puts money on innovation
Although the Asia-Pacific region is one of the most rapidly developing card markets in the world, ground-breaking innovations have been few and far between The e-mail inbox of any writer covering the Asia-Pacific cards industry is littered with press releases from issuers on innovations such as card size, colour, degree of card transparency and the angle of the curve on the bottom left-hand corner of the card.
Banco Itaú conquers South America
The biggest issuer of credit cards in Brazil is poised for strong growth at home and in the wider South American cards market, founded on both organic growth and partnership strategies
Banks need to learn from each other
Titien Ahmad reports on the main talking points.A range of senior card and payment industry executives from major issuing institutions gathered in Hong Kong during March for VRL KnowledgeBanks Cards and Payments Asia-Pacific conference, at which delegates were given a comprehensive overview of the current state of the market in the region Delegates were also treated to a robust exchange of views over how to maximise growth and profitability at a time when some industry players are licking their wounds over failed product launches.There were vocal critics of the state of the Asia-Pacific cards industry, such as Alistair Scarff, senior director and head of Asia-Pacific financial institutions research for Merrill Lynch
How the monolines disappeared
The US card industry underwent a transformation over the past couple of years as the monoline card issuers disappeared from the payment landscape, to be succeeded by more diversified financial services institutions The consolidation craze that has swept the US cards industry since 1997 may have abated for the time being, but there is no doubt that it has irreversibly changed the industry
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Asian cards lack scale
Ridha Wirakusumah, AIGs regional business head for the Asia-Pacific consumer finance group, is a seasoned non-bank contender in a bank-dominated cards industry He talked to CI about the organisations growth strategy and prospects for the Asia-Pacific region. During his ten years at GE Consumer Finance, Ridha Wirakusumah turned a money-losing business into a high-growth and highly profitable operation, and grew assets from $1 billion to over $10 billion
Risk and reward in Europe
Mark Barnett, head of MasterCard Advisors UK, spoke to CI about the changing face of the payment industry and how the company is positioning itself to take advantage of new opportunities. Within the payment industry, MasterCard Advisors is one of the few dedicated consultancies that is helping banks to optimise their card operations and take advantage of new opportunities in the market
Non-banks gain greater market share
Now, US non-bank issuers are also ratcheting up the competitive pressure in the battle for market share Victoria Conroy reports.Within the US credit card industry, non-bank institutions have always been a fundamental part of the system
South Africa’s credit card market heats up
In a sign of the countrys increasingly healthy economic outlook, South Africas national credit regulator has reported that the countrys consumer credit market has more than doubled in the space of five years to be worth over ZAR800 billion ($110 billion), helped by increases in secured and unsecured lending, particularly a new wave of competition between credit card issuers. He says he is confident that lenders are more responsible than they used to be, and that the economy and structural changes in the market are supporting the countrys consumer credit rise.However, in line with the rising levels of consumer credit uptake, arrears have also started to creep up, but Davel insists that there is nothing that indicates a crisis
US Democrats introduce credit card legislation
Democrat politicians in the US House of Representatives have introduced legislation requiring credit card companies to give consumers more information about the consequences of making only the minimum monthly repayment on their card balances Issuers would have to outline the time needed to pay off a balance if only the minimum payment is made, and would also have to warn consumers about the interest costs The bill also requires issuers to provide a free telephone number to offer credit counselling.The Credit Card Repayment Act of 2007 was introduced by Representative David Price, who said: Consumers deserve to have better information from credit card companies to get themselves out of debt