The document discusses trends in the credit card industry in the United States. It notes that credit card ownership has been rising, with over 222 million expected cardholders by 2012. Approximately 60% of consumers have a rewards credit card. Retail store credit cards also represent a large portion of cards issued, at 38.6% of the total, and are a major focus of marketing by retailers to improve customer loyalty and boost sales. However, retail cards also present some disadvantages for consumers compared to standard bank-issued cards. The credit card industry overall creates hundreds of thousands of jobs in areas like credit review, banking, and financial services.

1. Credit Card retailing Industry
Then now and the future

2. Did you know?
• 20.8 is the median age at which
a U.S. consumer under 35 first
gota credit card .
• 40.6 years is the median age for
credit card adoption for a
consumer over the age of 65.
• Approximately 60 % of
consumers have a rewards
credit card.
• Worldwide, consumers carry
more than 1 billion Visa cards
Additionally more than 450
million of those cards are in the
United States.

3. Credit card ownership is a
rising trend
•Credit card ownership is a
rising trend that doesn’t appear
to be disappearing anytime
soon. In 2000 there
were 159 million credit
cardholders in the United
States , 173 million in
2006, and that number is
expected to grow to 222 million
Americans by 2012.(U.S.
Census Bureau)Furthermore
84% of the student population
overall have credit cards. This
is a huge increase of
approximately 11 percent since
the fall of 2004.

4. Large companies Targeting
students
•Credit card companies aim at
targeting university students, as
they have less responsibilities
and a large amount of debt. In
fact in 2011 only 2 percent of
undergraduates have no credit
history. Additionally 41% of
college students have a credit
card. For these students with
cards, about 65 percent pay their
bills in full every month, which is
higher than the general adult
population. Since 2004 -2011 :
the number of students who
arrived on campus with a credit
card has increased from 23
percent to 39 percent.

5. Retail Store Credit Cards
Retail credit cards can be divided into two
forms: the private label and the in-house. The
private label is the dominant form in which a
bank runs the card program on behalf of the
retailers. On the other hand the in-house credit
card is where the retailer runs its own card
program.
A large and growing number of major U.S retail
chains aggressively advertise their own
branded retail store credit card to improve
customer loyalty and ultimately boost sales. In
fact retail store credit cards represent the
greatest portion of cards issued, at 38.6% of the
total. Bank credit cards follow, at 37.7% of the
total. Although retail stores issue slightly more
credit cards than banks, bank cards are used
for the main share of total purchases,
representing 64.2% of the annual dollar volume.

7. • So…. Why would
someone bother getting
various retail cards
when they could just
just use their one credit
card for all purchases?

8. Incentives for using retail
credit cards
• Lifetime memberships with the store therefore
better treatment
• Discounts off selected purchases
• Complimentary shipping
• Special offers and promotions
• No interest or decreased interest for relevant
stores
• No annual fees
• Manage accounts online
• Returns without receipts
• Special customer care and attention

9. Sounds pretty good. So
what is to stop people
making all their
purchases using in
store credit cards?

10. Cons for using in store credit
cards
• Retail credit cards can lead to lower
credit scores: If you don’t use your
credit card a lot, it is entered into
the system as a credit inquiry.
Multiple credit inquires in a credit
report can trim a credit score
therefore making it harder to get a
loan.
• Retail credit cards are in superior to
credit cards due to the low loan
rate. People can get very high
credit card limits each month and
therefore a retail credit store limit
could be insufficient. It is clear that
the nation has a problem with
lending too much money they can
not pay back. Therefore people
may not be enticed by retail credit
stores.

11. Cons continued
• Inconvenience: The average American person has 3.2
credit cards. This is already a large number to have in
a wallet, therefore carrying around a range of retail
credit cards could become annoying and inconvenient.
• Bankruptcy: Chain store failures are a growing concern
for cardholders amid a retail environment where big,
brand-name stores are going completely bankrupt.

12. Financials
• Credit Card Top Companies Market Share

13. Combining the Big Four: Bank of America, Citi, JPM and
Discover shows how credit contraction has impacted the
major banks.

14. Total Cards in Circulation
2010

15. Job opportunities
• The credit card industry is one of the largest financing businesses in
the world. Therefore many jobs have been created through the
invention and rapid increase of credit cards. Jobs include: credit
review manager, CEO of credit card companies, managers,
employees of any one of the top banks, financial relations and a lot
more. Jobs are created at every point of the process of getting a
credit card.
• In 2010 Forbes estimated at the credit card
industry created over 300 000 jobs in America
alone. Additionally it predicted that by 2015, 500
000 jobs would be added because of the credit
card industry.

16. Conclusion
• It is unlikely that retail credit cards will ever completely
take over bank issues credit cards.
• There are many positives and numerous negatives for
joining up for a store credit card.
• The future will see many more retail stores add in store
credit cards to their amenities because it creates
customer loyalty, brand awareness and builds a strong
relationship with their customer.

17. References
• http://www.nerdwallet.com/credit-cards.php?error=404
• http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/store-credit-card-good-deal-1.aspx
• http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/4-reasons-you-should-get-a-
department-store-credit-card-1280.php
• http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-industry-facts-personal-
debt-statistics-1276.php
• http://www.credit.com/press/statistics/credit-card-statistics.html
• http://www.hoffmanbrinker.com/credit-card-debt-statistics.html
• http://www.store-creditcards.com/store-credit-cards.htm
• http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retailtrendsetters/f/Which-U-S-Retail-Companies-
Offer-Credit-Cards-To-Customers-Complete-List.htm
• http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/store-credit-card-good-deal-1.aspx