Slowing charge

摘要

There have been few better opportunities for financial firms in America over the past half-century than providing credit cards. For customers, they offer a convenient way to pay and easy access to credit; for merchants, they simplify the mechanics of collecting money, which once required vast billing and collection departments; for third parties, they create clever channels for marketing. No wonder that the companies that provided the plumbing and the banks that offered the credit experienced years of profitable growth, with only the occasional lull when the economy was in recession. The good times have not entirely disappeared. E-commerce has created a big new market; cheaper processing options are allowing small merchants to accept cards for purchases previously made with cash-a cup of coffee, say. An oddity in the Dodd-Frank act overhauling America's financial regulations, the so-called Durbin Amendment, boosted credit cards by penalising the main alternative, debit cards. Nonetheless, there are signs that the go-go years are gone: growth is tapering off, the margins received on lending are declining, and the cost of attracting customers is rising-even though America's economy is on the up.