Statistics, Facts & Such

The average credit card holder used about 10 bank, gas, and store cards and charged 25% more in 1994 than in 1993.

Average bank card balances are over $1,700 per household.

One in three Americans pay off the balance on credit cards every month.

The maximum capital gains tax is 28%, while ordinary income is taxed at a top rate of nearly 40%.

The average charge to a customer when they exceed their credit card limits is $18.00.

Americans are saving at an annual rate of around 4 1/2%. Back in the 1970s we were saving at a rate of almost double that-8 1/2%.

Republican sponsors of a House bill to issue a $1 coin instead of a printed bill claim it would save about $400 million a year over the next 30 years.

There were four minority owned financial institutions in 1993. There are now 173-owned by Women, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans-with $41.5 billion in assets, according to Creative Investment Research.

Visa reports it has over 6,000 member banks in the United States.

In 1975 almost all credit card processing was done by financial institutions. Now, KPMG reports that close to 80% of credit card transactions are processed by nonbanks.

Almost 100 banks in the United States now offer full-service electronic data interchange.

The Internal Revenue Service received 11 million 4789s last year...and over one billion 1099s.

Copyright © 1995 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 5, No. 9, 6/95