Industry Focus:

Pre-Approve Your Web Site: How to Attract and Keep Credit Card Customers

Secrets for successfully turning credit card prospects into customers

America’s currency may be the dollar, but the American consumer economy runs on plastic. The statistics are staggering. There are more than 640 million credit cards in circulation in the United States — more than two cards for every man, woman, and child. The average household has four credit cards, and one in 10 has more than 10 credit cards in their wallet. More than 40 percent of consumers aged 18 to 21 who surf the Web own a credit card.

The money involved in this plastic economy is equally staggering. Americans carry nearly $800 billion in credit card debt, and that number is projected to grow to nearly a trillion dollars in 2008. Something close to half of that debt is carried as a revolving monthly balance; the average American household owes a balance of between $8,000 and $9,000 on their cards, and half of those households make only the minimum payment each month. As a result, the average American household pays monthly interest of more than $83, adding up to over $90 billion dollars in interest income alone to credit card issuers every year. The financial institutions issuing credit cards have a huge stake in getting and keeping their cards in America’s wallets.