Retailer-specific mobile apps have become an important means of consumer engagement. They have been downloaded by a majority (53%) of smartphone users, and 42% have used them in the past 30 days, according to "Private Label Credit Cards in the U.S., 10th Edition."
November 15, 2017A recent Packaged Facts report ("Affluent Consumers: Demographic Patterns and Spending Trends, 7th Edition", October 2017) reveals that an ongoing change in consumer values is a major part of the evolving mindset of upper-income consumers in an age of inequality
October 24, 2017While consumer credit card loans outstanding are on the rise, growth remains relatively subdued, especially in comparison to automobile and student loan growth rates, suggesting that consumers continue to approach card debt conservatively.
June 1, 2017Marketers and retailers have long recognized the exceptional role Hispanic consumers play in their growth strategies. Sheer numbers are one reason. Yet, Hispanics embody far more than just an extraordinarily fast-growing population segment of the American population. They now represent a market with outsize spending power that will only continue to grow in the future.
November 28, 2016Myths, half truths, falsehoods. Consumer banking in the modern era is fraught with as many unfortunate misconceptions as it is growth opportunities. In this blog, Packaged Facts sorts fact from fiction and sheds light on how important this segment of the financial services still is to Americans of all ages.
October 19, 2016Prepaid cards are an ideal vehicle to provide Millennials with a low-cost, mobile- and tech-forward payment instrument for everyday use—a strategy not lost on market participants seeking to broaden their user base.
September 30, 2016For more insights from Co-branded and Affinity Credit Cards in the U.S. visit the report product page here. With credit cards offering ever richer rewards tier architectures (is 3-2-1 already passé?), many wonder whether the card industry is trading rewards for lower profit margins. So far, we think this concern is overblown: rewards costs are indeed rising; but as they move toward lower-cost digital channels, card member acquisition and communication expenses are falling. But acquisition m...
November 2, 2015China Daily USA published this article based on insights featured in Packaged Facts’ brand-new report, Commercial Payment Cards: U.S. and Global Market Trends, 9th Edition. China UnionPay’s (CUP) ambitious approach to building partnerships has helped it become the largest payment-card network in the world, according to the author of a recent market report. “CUP has aggressively forged partnerships with bank card issuers and processors across the globe, and buoyed by network reciprocity agree...
October 30, 2015This blog is based on the Packaged Facts report Private Label Credit Cards in the U.S., 9th Edition. Purchase a copy by Dec. 1 and receive 5% off with promo code PFPLCC1015. The movement to virtual private label cards housed within retailer mobile apps foretells the eventual demise of the physical card: Already, more than 30% of private label card issuer and program manager Alliance Data Systems’ private label card purchase value is made via card-not-present transactions. More broadly, retai...
October 13, 2015Let’s start with a statistic that, for traditional banks, looks quite troubling; according to survey analysis conducted for Packaged Facts’ January 2014 Debit Cards in the U.S., 5th Edition , the percentage of 18-24 year olds having a “checking account at a bank, savings and loan, credit union, or brokerage firm” has plummeted by almost 30% during 2010-2013. What’s happening here? Clearly, traditional banks are losing checking account customers. And it’s not just customers larger banks may h...
February 6, 2014