Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, November 4, 1994                   TAG: 9411040102
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press NEW YORK
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CREDIT-CARD COMPANIES HOPE FOR HAPPY (GENEROUS) HOLIDAYS

Is your mailbox crammed with letters from banks offering to sign you up for a new credit card?

Sorry, you're not special.

Credit-card companies have deluged consumers in recent weeks with hundreds of millions of letters asking them to sign up for cards. They want to line up as many new customers as possible to cash in on the biggest shopping season of the year.

With 40 percent of all credit-card charges made during November and December, and consumers using their cards a lot more often this year than last, card experts say Santa will be very good to issuers this season.

``This is payoff time in the bank-card business,'' said Robert B. McKinley, president at RAM Research Corp., a Frederick, Md., independent research company that tracks credit-card trends.

RAM data shows a cardholder typically charges at least $500 during the holidays. Because many users share accounts with spouses, most card balances shoot up by $1,000 during the last two months of the year.

That's why consumers have seen their mailboxes stuffed with new offers from American Express, Citicorp and other card issuers.

Data on the number of mailings during September and October aren't yet available, but experts estimate that consumers got 600 million letters. In the the first six months of the year alone, credit-card issuers sent out 1.2 billion pieces of mail, compared with 1.5 billion for all of 1993, according to Robert Skolnick, executive vice president at Behavioral Analysis Inc., a Tarrytown, N.Y., company that tracks mail solicitations.

Issuers usually launch new cards in fall and spring ahead of the holiday and vacation seasons, but McKinley said companies have been unusually busy this fall rolling out new cards.

Seven major new cards have been launched nationally in the last three months. Last week American Express Co. introduced a new gold card with special travel rewards. In September, the company launched a new version of its Optima card that gives consumers a 25-day grace period on new charges.

Chevy Chase Savings Bank rolled out no-fee Rolling Stones Visas and MasterCards. Federated Department Stores launched a co-branded Visa card, as did Quaker State Corp. Exxon Corp. launched a MasterCard.

Even Adolph Coors Co. put its Coors Extra Gold brand name on a piece of plastic.

``This is a good time to be upping spending limits, sending out checks and offering balance-consolidation programs,'' said Donald J. Auriemma, who runs a Westbury, Conn.-based firm that does consulting for card companies.

``You've got to get the cards into people's hands by Thanksgiving,'' said Auriemma. ``Timing is everything.''

Indeed. Last year consumers charged $17.9 billion on their Visa cards from Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve, a 32 percent increase over the 1992 shopping season, according to Visa.

This year already is stacking up to be one of the best for card companies. Visa and MasterCard charges were up 30 percent to $170 billion in the first six months of the year, according to RAM Research.

A strong economy, consumer confidence and better deals on credit cards are driving the growth, said McKinley.

People are more confident about their financial outlook and are using their cards to buy more camcorders, sweatsuits or plane tickets. They're also much more savvy about interest rates and, with competition intense among issuers, are constantly getting better offers on rates and fees.