Credit Card News: Technology

Despite the depressing outlook for the world economy, credit card companies are registering impressive results, with more customers demanding for credit card services. Research by Five Star Equities shows that more clients are charging with their credit cards compared to the figures last year.

Another research conducted by a credit card comparison site called CardHub discovered that this year, customers will continue to use their credit cards as many of them are finding it difficult to take out loans. The report also showed that Americans have an accumulated $48 billion new credit card debt in 2011 alone – that’s more than 400% the amount customers charged in 2010. The good news is that a majority of outstanding rose only by $4 billion, with most of it coming from payment defaults. The report shows that credit defaults are relatively insignificant and the new debt added last year have a good chance of getting repaid. As such, the increasing demand for credit services is clear indication that the credit industry is on the rebound.

In an interview Greg McBride, financial analyst for a leading credit card website said that many credit card users have been writing off their bad debts in 2009 and 2012 in order to grow their businesses. Because of this, card issuers have denied some applications for credit cards. But as repayment increases, credit card companies are now more willing to expand their reach.

At present, many companies are now offering mobile payment and online ventures. For example, Visa Inc., the world’s largest payment processor has recently offered a digital wallet wherein customers can pay for their online purchases through a user name and password, instead of having to type in their credit card numbers. Through this feature, clients can protect their account, as well as be able to make purchases more conveniently. Visa hopes to develop their V.me service so that customers can make in-store purchases using their cell phones. Such a service is now being offered by MasterCard and MobileLime.

Five Star Equities, owner of CardHub, performs regular analysis of the credit industry in the hope of providing credit card companies information on growth opportunities, and areas with high potential for return. They produce independent researches in order to provide the most up-to-date information about the credit card industry. Five Star Equities has recently made the entire report discussed in this article public, and may be downloaded through their company website.