Hurray for PRZ and D.FR and the yet-untargeted DCF unconspiratorily, merrily, incites. Now, sordid lucre biz: 8-17-95. NYPaper: "A mystery bankers love: How do credit cards stay so profitable?" The profit on credit card operations is almost five times the overall profit rate in banking. Last year, eight of the top nine commercial banks ranked by return on assets specialized in credit card loans. In a free market, this isn't supposed to happen. If the business is immensely profitable -- and that profitability is no secret -- why hasn't wideopen competition forced banks, at best, to offer lower interest rates to consumers or, at worst, at least to dissipate their excess profits in ever greater spending for promotion? This is not a pretty picture of free markets at work. "Mastercard Joins Banks to Plan Card That Works Like Cash." [This amplifies a bit the anonymous post on SmartCash.] The venture, called Smartcash, plans to issue what are called "stored value" or "electronic purse" cards. Customers would be able to load money onto these cards, say $20 or $50, at automated teller machines or by calling their banks with specially equipped telephones. "We're in a state of chaos," said Stephan Seidman, the editor of Smart Card Monthly, a trade publication. "A year ago banks said there was no good reason to issue smart cards. Now they are in a headlong plunge to get something out fast." The result, he said, is shifting and competing alliances that may lead to incompatible systems and confusion for consumers. Deux: RUB_han (about 10kb)