Since Credit Card customers, particularly the 99%ers, including many small businesses, have been suffering so much financially, and thus they have had to increase their credit card balances, with much of it at seemingly extremely high interest rates along with exorbitant other fees charged, I think it would be helpful to see how the US Big Credit Card Corps, clearly some of the 1%ers, have been doing.
There are four large Credit Card Corps that are independent publicly-owned corporations: American Express, Visa, Discover Financial Services, and MasterCard.
In the 4Q 2011, these four Credit Card Corps had Total Pretax Income of $4.9 bil, an increase of a very robust 23% over the 4Q 2010. This 23% earnings increase was just slightly less than the 27% earnings growth in the 3Q 2011, and substantially less than the windfall profit increases of the previous six quarters.
And these robust earnings increases are across the board. The lowest percentage earnings increase in the 4Q 2011 of these four Big Credit Card Corps was 17%, generated by Visa. I wonder how many 99%ers, including small businesses, had their financial earnings increase by 17% in the most recent 4Q 2011. I bet it's less than 10%.
Below here are the 4Q 2011 Pretax Earnings of these four US Big Credit Card Corps, along with that earned in the prior year's 4Q.
..........................................4Q............4Q....
........................................2011.........2010......Increase
.........................................PTI............PTI...Amount......%
........................................(in millions of dollars)......
American Express...........1,748........1,477......271......18%
Visa.................................1,617........1,382......235......17%
Discover Fincl Svcs............818...........585......233......40%
MasterCard(1)...................758...........582......176......30%
Total all 4........................4,941.......4,026.......915......23%
(1) MasterCard 2011 PTI excludes Special Litigation Settlement Charge.
So, these US Big Credit Card Corps, along with their supporters in the US Congress (all Republicans and even some Democrats), are constantly whining about how the Obama Administration and Ben Bernanke have just devastated their industry?
Give me a break!
I suggest that the 99%ers are the ones severely damaged, and not as yet even close to being made whole, by the financial meltdown, not the US Big Credit Card Corps.
So how have the Republicans in the US Congress reacted to these windfall earnings and astronomical earnings growth rates of these four Big Credit Card Corps in the past several years, which was nearly all earned on the backs of the 99%, including small businesses?
They refused to permit the Obama Administration to appoint the eminently qualified and impeccable Richard Cordray to head the critical US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
These Congressional Republicans are not working on behalf of the 99% on this key issue, and on so many other critical issues. They are only working for the 1%.
There is a reason the Occupying Protesters are having such a positive impact. They are calling out the economic injustices like this one, and they are expecting the US Government to function properly and correct them.
