IMGCAP(1)]
Layoffs on Wall Street and in the banking and payments industries remind Brian Riley, research director at TowerGroup, a U.S.-based independent research firm owned by MasterCard Advisors, of an old saw by former President Ronald Reagan. "Reagan said recession is when your neighbor loses his job; depression is when you lose your job," he says. "There's much more impact to white-collar workers in this recession, which is affecting the bread and butter of revolving credit." Despite the impact of the current economic downturn on financial services, credit card issuers should keep in mind long-term opportunities for expansion in areas of the globe not already saturated with credit cards, Riley tells CardLine sister publication Cards&Payments. "China's attractive on the credit side," he says. "It will probably be eight to 10 years before it's profitable, but it's a great place to have an oar in the water."
