Cards and Consumer Finance in Italy 2008

Lafferty Cards & Consumer Finance in Italy 2008

Introduction

Lafferty Cards & Consumer Finance in Italy 2008 is the most comprehensive research available on consumer finance and credit cards in the market. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods is used by a dedicated team of in-house researchers and analysts to produce accurate and unbiased data. It comprises of 11 sections: key facts, demographics, the economy, consumer credit market, cards market, credit cards profit pool, pricing and enhancements, networks, credit cards issuers, merchant acquiring & processing and other cards market information. The report is reader friendly through the use of a bullet point format and graphs, pie charts and tables to help illustrate key data. Industry experts are always on hand to talk you through any data queries.

Highlights Total consumer credit in relation to income is low in comparison to other countries in Western Europe.

The main barrier to growth in revolving credit is a consumer preference for charge and deferred debit cards.

The level of borrowing on credit cards has been growing at a steady rate and is likely to continue as such in the next few years, albeit at a relatively slower pace. Although the potential for a higher level of credit card penetration exists, the focus for issuers will be to increase the level of usage amongst existing cards, as up to half of all current credit cards in circulation are inactive.
Consolidation is a key theme in the Italian banking market, as banks and financial service providers jostle to ensure growth, or preservation, of market share. Nevertheless there has been an increase in the number of issuers entering the credit cards market and adding to the already significant offering of credit card products. Most notably the level of foreign entrants either in a partnership with, or having ownership of, an Italian bank is rising.