From cash to credit cards. Facts

Travel cards, gasoline cards, shopping cards...a collection of credit cards of all types. Credit cards gives us spending power and the international and local banks all wants a piece of a pie, in turning a nation into a credit card society. I've run across the internet to see some figures and its amazing!

CREDIT CARD ISSUER STATISTICS

Market share

Top 10 issuers of general purpose credit cards, 2007
1. Bank of America
2. JPMorgan Chase
3. Citigroup
4. American Express
5. Capital One
6. Discover Card
7. HSBC
8. Washington Mutual
9. Wells Fargo
10. USAA
Note: JPMorgan Chase in 2007 became the nation's largest issuer of Visa and MasterCard. However, Bank of America is the largest when American Express cards are factored in. Chase does not issue American Express cards.
(Source: Nilson Report, February 2008)

U.S. market share ranked by major card type, based on credit card receivables outstanding:
1. Visa -- 46 percent
2. MasterCard -- 36 percent
3. American Express -- 12 percent
4. Discover Card -- 6 percent
(Source: Nielson Report, May 2008)

Largest debit card volume in the U.S., 2007
1. Bank of America -- $106.03 billion
2. Wells Fargo -- $54.67 billion
3. JP Morgan Chase -- $37.26 billion
4. Wachovia -- $37.16 billion
5. Washington Mutual -- $35.03 billion
6. US Bank -- $23.03 billion
7. Regions Bank -- $15.29 billion
8. Fifth Third Bank -- $12.19 billion
9. USAA Federal -- $12.03 billion
10. RBS Citizens -- $11.51 billion
(Source: Nilson Report, April 2008)

2007 global market share of general-purpose cards (purchase volume)
1. Visa -- 60 percent
2. MasterCard -- 28 percent
3. American Express -- 10.5 percent
4. JCB -- 0.9 percent
5. Diners Club -- 0.5 percent
(Source: Nilson Report, May 2008)

2007 global market share of general-purpose cards (cards in distribution)
Total among these five brands: 3.03 billion, up 13.6 percent in one year
1. Visa -- 65 percent
2. MasterCard -- 30 percent
3. American Express -- unknown
4. JCB -- unknown
5. Diners Club -- unknown
(Source: Nilson Report, May 2008)

Ranking of U.S. banks' reputations

1. Washington Mutual - 64.04
2. SunTrust Banks - 63.56
3. Wachovia - 61.22
4. National City - 58.83
5. Wells Fargo - 57.38
6. US Bancorp - 54.18
7. Bank of America - 50.94
NOTE: Rankings were part of a survey of 600 of the world's largest companies.
(Source: Reputation Institute Global Pulse survey, June 2008)

Miscellaneous

There were 984 million bank-issued Visa and MasterCard credit card and debit card accounts in the U.S in 2006. (Source: Visa USA, MasterCard International)
The top 10 credit card issuers controlled approximately 88 percent of the credit card market at the end of 2006, based on credit card receivables outstanding. (Source: FDIC)
U.S. Visa cardholders alone conduct more than $1 trillion in annual volume. (Source: Visa USA internal statistics, 4th quarter 2006)
Consumers carry more than 1 billion Visa cards worldwide. More than 450 million of those cards are in the United States. (Source: Visa USA internal statistics, 4th quarter 2006)

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Industry history

The first widely accepted plastic charge card was issued in 1958 by American Express.
The first general-use credit card that allowed balances to be paid over time was the BankAmericard (which in 1977 changed its name to Visa), issued in 1959. (Sources: PBS Frontline; American Express, Visa USA)
How did MasterCard begin? In 1966, a number of banks formed the Interbank Card Association. In 1969, the Interbank Card Association bought the rights to use "Master Charge" from the California Bank Association. It was renamed MasterCard in 1979. (Source: MasterCard.com)

After all the information what does it mean? We'll this simply means in a point of view of a multi-billion financial institution, the more our clients' spend the more we profit. So we basically make a loan every time we use our plastic cards and we should use it properly to our advantage.