The more you know about credit, the better you can use it to your advantage. While that certainly applies to the credit repair and credit rebuilding process, you can add that knowledge to the credit card industry. Here’s what credit card issuers are planning relevant to credit card offers, targeted marketing, new products, and security enhancements. Besides following your purchases so they can use their marketing techniques on you, credit card companies are also trying to come up with ways to make your purchases more secure and reduce fraud. That comes at the heels of some major security breaches exploited by Target and Neiman Marcus where millions of credit card numbers were stolen. See what changes the credit card industry has in store for you and your card in the years to come.
Credit Card Data Tracking
It’s no surprise banks have a load of information on their credit card customers. What is surprising is that they haven’t already made the most of it. In the future, expect to receive targeted offers on products and services based on what credit card companies know about your interests via your spending habits.
Targeting Mobile Devices
What’s better than knowing what you like to buy? Knowing where you are at any given time so as to offer your deals on products and services just a hop-skip-and-a-jump away. In the future, expect credit card companies to utilize location tracking to create real-time deals too good to pass up.
Social Media Marketing
Though you may still see credit card offers in your mailbox now and then, overall, direct marketing campaigns are winding down as social media marketing takes off. If you’re on Facebook, you’re well aware of the ads uniquely targeted to you based on the things you “like” and post about on the site. Presumably, credit card offers will make the most of this and other social media marketing platforms.
New Products for the Unbanked and Underbanked
We warn readers all the time about the predatory lending practices of payday and title loan companies. Yet people succumb to them because they simply have no other means of acquiring credit. There are millions more who not only have no credit cards but no checking or savings accounts either. Banks evidently feel their pain (i.e., see an untapped market ripe for profit). In the future, expect banks to offer products tailored to the needs of the unbanked and underbanked demographic.
Budgeting Tools
When you think about the impact of using your credit card, you likely think of spending money. But, if you’re a savvy credit card user, you also think of all the good your responsible credit card use is doing your credit score. Now how about adding another perk to the equation? In the future, expect credit card issuers to enhance their credit card services with tools that can help you budget better. After all, the smarter you are with your money, the easier it is to pay your credit card bills – good news for banks as the more customers they have in good standing using their cards every month, the fewer customers they have defaulting and going into collection and charge-off status.
EMV Technology
Every time you swipe your magnetic strip credit card, you run the risk of fraud. Though hidden from sight, the information on that magnetic strip can easily be seen by fraudulent credit card copying devices. This type of security risk was exposed over a busy 2013 Christmas holiday when Target and Neiman Marcus computers were hacked and millions of credit card numbers were stolen.
As a response to this security breach, credit cards are now being embedded with EMV chips that cannot be copied. This is already standard most of the world but has been slow-going in the U.S. Though Visa and MasterCard are pushing hard for the adoption of the technology, ATM owners and vendors are resisting as the upgrade to EMV readers is an expensive one. Since October 2015, merchants in the U.S. have been required by law to have upgraded to EMV technology.
Of course, the more things change, the more they stay the same. In the future, expect to continue to be vigilant in protecting your credit card information.
