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Article: EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES: Card Issuers Adapted; Will They Evolve?(Cards)
- Article from:
- American Banker
- Article date:
- September 25, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 SourceMedia, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Harry Terris
(Tenth in a series)
Like chameleons, American Express and Discover changed their skins to survive the financial crisis. They may actually be getting used to the camouflage.
The two nonbank institutions, the biggest monoline credit-card issuers, have spent the past year of tumult becoming more like banks, seeking the shelter of more traditional - and stable - funding models as the capital markets short-circuited. They converted to bank holding companies and assiduously built up branchless deposit-taking capabilities.
Today, the two companies stand at a crossroads: continue down that path and turn the funding fixes ...