|
|
Article: Card Issuers Can Learn from Catalogue Retailers.
- Article from:
- American Banker
- Article date:
- August 18, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 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)
|
In the 1960s, when the oldest of the 50 million members of Generation X were children, the credit card industry came close to collapse.
Fierce competition and interbank warfare had led to market saturation. Pre-approved cards were being mass-mailed to any lists banks could lay their hands on. Some of those underage Gen Xers, as well as welfare recipients and family pets, got cards. Losses skyrocketed, and fraud ran rampant.
What has grown into a trillion-dollar industry is again facing the challenges of an increasingly competitive market. At the same time, card profitability is reeling from high delinquency and chargeoff rates. Record bankruptcies and other ...