Introduction
Paying by plastic can be pricey for consumers and profitable for banks. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) recently reported that insured banks and thrifts (1) in the United States earned a record $120.6 billion in 2003, easily surpassing the previous record total of $105.1 billion set in 2002. The FDIC also stated in the report that the greatest improvements in profitability were registered by credit card lenders and that credit card lenders had strong growth in both net interest income and non-interest revenues. The same FDIC report also indicated that the amount of credit card loans that were non-current registered a sizable increase in the fourth quarter of 2003, increasing by $2.3 billion (44 percent). (2)

There are 185 million plastic card carrying United States consumers. Plastic payments now account for 53% of consumer purchases, compared to 43% in 1999. (3) According to a recent survey, half of the adults (50 percent) reported carrying one to three plastic cards on a regular basis, while 30 percent say they usually carry four to six. However, the survey indicated that the number of plastic cards people actually have used is significantly higher. The global plastic card market tops $4.7 billion with the largest plastic card market in North America. (4)

Credit and ATM/Debit cards top the list of Americans' most widely used plastic cards and banks are also moving very fast into pre-paid, gift and payroll cards.( 5) The purpose of this report and survey is to identify the categories, prevalence and amounts of the fees associated with the use of several different types of plastic cards.
This report includes:

(1) The results of an annual New York State survey of ATM surcharge fees, foreign (off-us ( 6)) ATM transaction fees, Debit Card point-of-sale (POS) fees and other ATM/Debit card fees;

(2) A survey of pre-paid plastic cards fees typically bearing the Visa or MasterCard logo and a description of their high activation, participation and transaction fees associated with them;

(3) A survey of the annual percentage rates and fees credit cards assess and a description of the impact those have on consumers across the United States;

(4) A description of some of the fees that may be assessed for payroll cards; and

(5) A section on gift cards and their growing popularity and a description of the fees associated with the cards.

ATMs—Always Taking Money | Debit Card Confusion | Pre-paid Cards—The Priciest Plastic of All | The Credit Card Trap
Bye-bye Paycheck—Payroll Cards | Don't Save that Gift Card for a Rainy Day | A Tale of Two Wallets | Recommendations | Methodology | Attachments | Credits