Credit cards have become such a familiar feature of the life style in the world that it is difficult to imagine a consumer economy functioning without them. The credit cards are nowadays the most convenient of all types of payments. The boom of the credit card industry has affected everyone in the world of the "plastic money". That was the name given to the credit card right after it was invented. Nowadays, the "plastic money" occupies a very important place in the economy of the country. "Settlements indicates that the number of credit cards in circulation increased 34 percent between 1988….. The data also show that the value of credit card transactions increased 98 percent during the same period" (Yoo, p.s.1997). A lot of reasons explain the fact that the credit cards are holding the most important place in the wallet and purses today. Behind these reasons , is hiding a crucial social phenomenon that has very bad consequences in the country, credit card abuse. Despite the measures taken by the officials, statistics prove that the number is increasing everyday.
Today, Visa and Master card occupy an important place in the credit card marketplace but the pioneer in the business remains to be Diners Club.
In 1949, as the luncheon tables were cleared at the Major's Cabin Grill, a popular New York restaurant of the period whose location next door of the Empire State Building was then a considerable asset, three men sat huddled over a prime table off to one side …. In their excitement, they called over Major, the proprietor and asked him how much he would pay for business that he would not ordinarily get. Without flinching, Major replied "7 percent" , number that established a major industry (Lewis, 1990).
` Those three men were Alfred Bloomingdale, Frank Mc Namara and Ralph Snyder. They conceived a plan for a new type of credit card. Unlike the retail and gas credit cards, which were restricted in use to those industries, theirs would be "universal" card that allowed its holders to purchase goods and services at different places across the country. An industry was born, Diners Club
As a matter of fact, the period right before the First World War, was the first year for a new industry, the credit card in...
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...ational problems such as billing errors and the development of an efficient nationwide up-to-the-minute authorization system. A wide laws and regulations system now govern the functioning of the industry but still the fraud is inevitable. This number is still increasing due to the corruption of our society. The only way you can help to stop this is by changing the whole system. But then there will be some people who will pursue their illegal actions, and will find a way to abuse other systems also.
References Pages
Swanson, Charles R. Camelin, Neil C. Territo, Leonard.(1996). Criminal I Investigation: 16th edition. New York City, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. pp. 504-506.
Glen, B.C. (1984, December). Survey of Consumer Finances, 1983: A Second Report. Federal Report Bulletin. pp. 875-68.
Fritz, S (1996, March 16). Credit: More Federal Workers Use- and Abuse- office Cards, Los Angeles Times, section A, pp. 1, 14.
Lewis, M. (1990). The Credit card industry: A history. Twayne Publisher, Boston.
Netscape Navigatio "Credit Card Processing." 1997.
The United States lending industry’s main focus has become accentuating profits; therefore, they have made it impossible to live without a credit card in today’s economy and to avoid being taken advantage of by the banks. James Scurlock, director and producer of the film, “Maxed Out”, devotes his movie to informing the audience of the credit card system and its many flaws and gives examples of people who are majorly affected by the pressure the lenders apply. Throughout the movie, numerous statistics, and expert testimonies are presented, as well as comparisons and appeals to emotion. Through the use of this support Scurlock, is able to convey his overall message and propose numerous minor arguments that clarify his argument and make it more credible.
...was making a point only to find on the next page he made an argument counter to the previous point. Also, I found it odd that the end of his historical study occurred in the 1940’s. Consumer credit in America has changed since then albeit not as drastically as in the 1910’s and 1920’s. Nonetheless, I feel he did an incredible job scraping up evidence for debt that existed in an era when such things were very private. Early in this book he stated that he “adopted a national approach …to cast [his] nets widely so as to bring as much documentation as possible.” (p.15) The seemingly unimportant antique flyers and diary entries really did give a personal touch to this obscure corner of American history. Prior to reading this book, I was one of the believers in the “myth of lost economic virtue” (p.23) but now I have a new, more accurate, view of this topic.
Swanson, C. R., Chamelin, N. C., & Territo, L. (2012). Criminal investigation. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Credit cards: for some they are the paths to financial freedom, for others they are a necessity for daily purchases. During the recent economic crisis, many have sought out to find the cause. One common suspect is the credit card industry, which is comprised of more than six thousand card issuers (Clayton 209). This issue is debated in the two-part article “Should Congress Regulate Credit Card Rates and Fees?” “Yes” and “No.” Tamara Draut, Director of Economic Opportunity, Demos, argues yes, claiming the credit card companies’ ability to adjust terms and interest rates traps cardholders in everlasting debt. On the contrary, Kenneth J. Clayton, Managing Director of Card Policy for the American Bankers Association, argues no, stating that regulating credit card companies would hinder many people from obtaining credit and further damage the economy. Although both Draut and Clayton present strong evidence for some aspects of their arguments, both writers make assumptions which they fail to support and ignore the complexity of the issue, making their arguments overall unpersuasive.
In addition, “if American Express going to be successful as a brand and as a marketer, they need to understand where consumers are doing it, how consumers are spending their time, where consumers want to access information, and how can American Express engage them. American Express has be used in countries all over the world for decades. It simply grew up with the baby boomers’ generation and has earned its reputation as a card with distinction. Through the years, the company has consistently reached consumer by keeping in step with the changing needs of the population. They also has acknowledge that it is the consumers who really decide what American Express stand for and not the company pushing out marketing messages. Further, American Express belie...
A credit transaction is when a consumer purchases a good or service and pays in the future. The use of a credit card can be useful as it is convenient, saving time and trouble. However, due to the extensive use of credit cards in Australia, legal issues has arisen such as the inability for consumers to repay their debts, unfair contract terms and inadequate procedures of credit providers. Prior to 1996, the Credit Act 1984 (NSW) was introduced as the only piece of legislation that regulated customer credit. However, because it only offered protection for less than 20% of consumers, the Consumer Credit Code was established in 1996 under the Consumer Credit (NSW) Act 1995 (NSW). This code is a set of uniform national rules about consumer credit transactions and has been adopted by all governments throu...
American Express has become one of the leaders in credit and debit card transactions of the financial world. As the most innovative company in the business, they were the first to develop a large-scale traveller’s check. Over the years the company became more of a financial company and with the advent of consumer credit and debit cards they became a major player in supplying this service to it's members. American Express produced a niche market of "card members" to fit the needs of various financial desires. American Express has had to diversify it's products and services over the years to stay competitive with Visa and Master Card, who still control over 75% of the market share. The "elite" consumer still carries an American Express card, and the services and extra benefits associated with "being a member" are still an attractive bonus to many users. With it's financial services, travel business, and it's new Internet business sites American Express continues to grow and even through the recent meltdown in the financial markets they have seemed to emerge as strong as ever and will remain competitive through the 21st century. Once appeared as a travel service company associated with entertainment expenses, and even had several celebrities appeared in their advertisement campaigns. However today it seems as though the company attempts to convey that their service provides an easy and rewarding spending experience.
Credit card debt is one of this nation’s leading internal problems. When credit was first introduced, and up until around the late 1970’s, the standards for getting a credit card were very high. The bar got lowered and lowered to where, eventually, an 18 year-old college student with almost no income and nothing to base a credit score on previously could obtain a credit card (much like myself). The national credit card debt for families residing in the United States alone is in the trillions (Maxed Out). The average American family has around $9,000 in debt, and pays around $1,3000 a year on interest payments (Maxed Out). Many people have the concern today that these interest rates and fees are skyrocketing; and many do not understand why. Most of these people have to try to avoid harassing collecting agents from different agencies, which takes an emotional and psychological toll on them. While a lot of the newly recognized “risky” people (those with a doubted ability to make sufficient payments) are actually older people who have been customers of certain companies for decades, the credit card companies are actually consciously targeting a different, much more vulnerable group of people: college students. James Scurlock produced a documentary called Maxed Out on this growing problem, in which Senator Jack Reed of (Democrat) of Rhode Island emphasizes the targeting of college students in the Consumer Credit Hearings of 2005
Credit cards have a history stemming back to the mid 1900's, when there were two types of cards, both of which are still around, the card for specific stores, such as Sears, and the card for the occasional convenient spending when you didn't have the money you needed right away. The difference, however, between now and then is that only the extremely financially stable were using the latter of the two cards. The cards, such ...
During the 1920’s, the use of credit was extensive as everyone tried to reach the American “standard of living”(Hank and John Green, Youtube). There was mass consumption from the people as they used credit to buy the newest technologies and goods, like the automobile. The problem with all this use of credit was that it was acceptable to go into debt, but this would later lead to future economic issues. Many Americans during this time period rose to wealth as new products and jobs were created, however, about forty percent of them lived in
They expressed that credit card companies began directing their focus on college students in an attempt to broaden their market share in the late 1980s (Robb and Sharpe, 2009, p. 25). During that time, students were encouraged to obtain credit cards by way of on-campus enrollment, direct mail promotions, on/ off-campus advertisement. “By 2001, over three-quarters of all undergraduates had one or more credit cards” (Robb and Sharpe, 2009, p. 25). These elemental advancements in how and to whom credit cards were advertised resulted in credit cards becoming a way of life for today’s college student. As the rate of college students who own credit cards grew so did the apprehension that credit card
Everywhere public place you go it is hard not to run in to the idea of the credit card. You will see credit card logos on the front of every business. Every department store you go in has it’s own version of a credit card from Target to Macy’s. The Diner’s Club Card that originally was only for businessmen to eat lunch at 27 different restaurants. Now it is accepted almost everywhere. And for everything else there’s Mastercard……(or Visa, Discover Card orAmerican Express.
Credit cards are something that are almost needed in everyday life now, as most dont have the money available to purchase a car or house and so need credit, thus needing credit cards to help build that credit. Those cards are hard to handle, and receiving applications in the mail daily, and commercials appearing on television don’t seem to make the struggle of staying away any easier. This starts to spark an interest. So people begin to think, "I think I 'm responsible enough to get a credit card, I 'll only use it for emergencies." Then the application process begins and it may take a couple times to finally be approved for one. This only makes it worse, of course, because realizing how long a credit card wasn’t applicable to life, but now
By offering consumers both a means to pay for goods and services and a source of credit to finance such purchases, credit cards have become the most widely used credit instrument in the United States. As a payment device, credit cards are a ready substitute for checks, cash, and debit cards for most types of purchases (Federal Reserve, 2013).
Why is the United States not up to date with Europe in issuing safer credit and debit card transactions? Europe has had the chip and pin credit and debit cards since the year 2004. These new security chip cards started to become a trend in the year 2014 in the United States. The United States has over ten million credit card terminals so it was hard to get such a large market to adopt to a new type of technology. There are three sectors of the market that had to work together which were the retailers, big financial institutions, and then the card associations like Visa or MasterCard. Retailers and credit card companies could never decide who would pay the transaction fees so there was another conflict that slowed the process of implementing