H. Lowe

Eight years after AmEx proposed partnerships with banks, Discover is now courting banks to issue its cards. Is this a belated move by a cautious competitor or a timely growth strategy?

Payment cards probably weren't what Mao Tse-Tung had in mind when he announced in 1958 The Great Leap Forward, a socialist-inspired economic plan for the People's Republic of China. Nor were they a topic of discussion in February of 1972, when Richard M. Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit the People's Republic since it was established in 1949.

Apart from American Express, the world's two other major travel-and-entertainment cards remain Japan's JCB and Diners Club. JCB is continuing its worldwide expansion, while Diners Club, whose Citigroup Inc.-owned U.S. operation is headquartered in Chicago, remains as low key as ever but looks forward to a travel revival.

Politicians still raise a fork on the rubber-chicken circuit, attend state fairs, march in parades, hold large rallies, and convene small meetings with supporters to raise money for their campaigns. But they increasingly are relying on credit card donations made over the Internet to fill their campaign coffers.

Visa believes that the demise of the honor-all-cards rule could boost acceptance of offline debit cards among utilities looking to replace paper with recurring electronic payments. But utilities still like the ACH.

Acceptance costs for small purchases on the Web have slowed the growth of micropayments, but now innovations and new companies are invigorating the market.

Card payments make the travel industry go, so when travel suffers, cards can lose charge volume. Here, CCM documents a slew of new card-linked programs to spur the travel-and-entertainment sector.