Credit Card Issuers Continue to Re-Invent Themselves
| July 6, 2010 |
When it comes to the credit card industry what is the first thing that comes to mind? Over the last couple of years many people’s answer to this very question has changed quite a bit. While some may still have something positive to say, for the most part majority of Americans’ responses will be negative. Because of this, issuers have had to re-invent themselves to not only keep current cardholders engaged but also attract new cardholders.
When it comes to how issuers will continue to get the attention of both current and potential cardholders, issuers have decided to go to where the people are. In addition to that they are giving cardholders more by way of cash back and rewards among other things. As for going to where the people are, this year we have seen issuers become more interactive than any time in the past. With the help of Facebook as well as other social sites, we are seeing promotions by card companies that are not pushing consumers to apply for cards. One of the largest to date was directed by Chase, which consumers could vote on which charities they thought deserved the chance at winning monetary prizes. When it comes to giving cardholders more rewards such as cash back and miles, already this year we have seen credit cards companies introduce plastic with rewards never seen in years past. While we are not sure how many more will more will come out by the end of 2010, experts believe that at least one by all of the large issuers will be made available.
So will these moves by card issuers prompt you to get new plastic? Even as issuers continue to re-invent themselves, for many Americans there is still quite a bit that credit card companies must do before they can be trusted again. The fact still remains that many cardholders feel that they were unjustly targeted when it came to the many changes that cardholders saw happening to their accounts. For nearly all, these changes ended up costing them more in the long run and have pushed their financial goals back by months or years. For many this was the breaking point that allowed them to end their "love/hate" relationship that they had with their credit card.
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