More Turning To The Web To Manage Card Accounts

Most adult credit cardholders with Internet access now use the web to manage their accounts despite continuing concerns about fraud and loss of privacy, according to an Online Consumer Credit Card Survey commissioned by TSYS.

Among the findings:

* 57% of all adult credit cardholders who use the Internet now manage one or more aspects of their credit card accounts online. Many of these cardholders have only started to manage their accounts online in the past 12 months.

* 54% of Internet cardholders have shopped for a credit card on the Internet, and nearly one-half have applied for a card online.

* Cardholders who use the Internet to manage card accounts online make up two-thirds of cardholders using the most cards (four or more) and of those who use their cards the most (11 or more times per month).

* Cardholders who manage their accounts online are younger, better educated and have higher incomes than Internet-using cardholders who don't manage online.

"We've learned that savvy cardholders increasingly choose the Internet to resolve questions or concerns about their credit accounts over their local branch or accessing telephone customer service. That's a drastic departure from established habits even 18 months ago," said Olin Wise of TSYS.

FiSite Research, an online financial research and advisory services firm, conducted the survey from May 19 through June 6, 2003, among 2,535 Internet-using adults who own and use at least one credit card.

For info: www.tsys.com.