Andrea McKenna

Consumers who use American Express Delta Air Lines cobranded credit cards, including U.S. consumer and small-business gold, platinum and reserve Delta SkyMiles cards, will have the $50 Delta baggage fee waived for their first checked bag starting June 1. The benefit applies to up to nine individuals traveling on the same reservation.

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For the past 10 years, the General Services Administration's SmartPay program has represented the world's largest contract for purchasing, fleet, travel and combination cards. The program in 2006 generated more than $26 billion in sales and racked up more than 98 million in interchange-generating transactions.

After several years of consumer rate hopping-moving balances from one card account to another to take advantage of better annual interest rates-balance-transfer activity is slowing, according to industry research from Auriemma Consulting Group.

When Travelocity.com was looking to launch a cobranded card, the online travel agency wanted an issuing partner that could develop a program to attract consumers by making it simple to get a card and to access rewards points.

Many consumer segments have card products available that support their lifestyles and financial needs. Business travelers, for example, can get a travel-and-entertainment card.

When Harry Cardoza's Big Town Hero restaurant in Eugene, Ore., decided to become part of Umpqua Bank's locally focused Rainbow Rewards program, the store was looking for a loyalty program to secure local repeat customers. Cardoza likes the fact that local residents are encouraged to return to the store for a 6% discount on purchases.

Consumers today can choose pink cellular phones and select images of their children as the phones' home screens. And most MP3 music players and covers come in a rainbow of colors and designs. Now, more financial institutions are finding appearance similarly helps differentiate their lines of card products from those of their competitors.

When Green Hills Market of Syracuse, N.Y., first opened its doors, it understood the need to use consumer behavior to create better and more loyal customers.

Many consumers in their 20s drawn to snowboarder celebrities and hot new technology may view getting the new Apple iPhone as their most-important acquisition this summer. But credit card marketers also are hot on their trail.

How can merchants take advantage of the automated clearinghouse system's cheaper transaction costs? Give consumers a loyalty discount and watch them turn to merchant-friendly ACH debit products.

Visa this year expects to follow in MasterCard's footsteps with plans to conduct an initial public offering, perhaps later this year. The card organization says it plans to restructure to become a global public corporation called Visa Inc. that includes Visa Canada, Visa USA and Visa International.

MasterCard's initial public offering last spring was the biggest news for the card company in 2006. During a conference call with analysts on Feb. 9, MasterCard President and CEO Robert Selander called 2006 a "truly monumental year."

American Express Co. continues to maintain growth in the card business, analysts say, thanks to its steely spend-centric business model that relies on relatively high customer spending and interchange rates and less on lending.