According to the 2011 report of Nilson’s General Purpose Credit Cards, American Express surpassed MasterCard to secure the second place among credit card brands in the US, due to consumers spending on merchandises.
The Nilson Report publisher David Robertson said this is the first time that American Express has experienced more purchase volume, since MasterCard was known as MasterCharge back in the 1960s.
All four card brands, which include Visa, Amex, MasterCard, and Discover experienced growth in purchase volume, although American Express credit cards witnessed an increase of 13.4% to $540bn compared to its arch rival MasterCard credit cards, which saw an increase of 6.1% to $508bn, said the report.
The study also revealed that credit card outstandings, owned by all Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover general purpose credit card accounts totaled $713.27bn in 2011, up $1.99bn or 0.3%.
The Nilson Report in the US provides global news and analysis of the credit, debit and prepaid card industry.
