Sharon Kemp reports from Melbourne on the rapid growth in consumer debt in Australia.

Credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard are as confident as ever. Visa says consumers have never been so debt-educated or diligent in clearing their card debt. Moreover, the global giant says fears of a Christmas blow-out in card debt were unfounded, based on RBA data that showed that for every $100 spent in December in three consecutive years to the end of 2001, $91 was repaid in January. "Although Australians are using their cards more, they continue to use them carefully," says Visa International executive vice president (Australia and New Zealand) Gordon Wheaton.

Separately, Bruce McDougall reports in the Herald Sun on the change taking place January 1st in Australia where retailers will be permitted to surcharge credit card transactions at the point of sale. In a similar article in the Weekend Australian, Jennifer Sexton reports:

Ms Wolthuizen said consumers were most likely to incur a credit card surcharge on airline ticketing because of the industry structure ˆ big business with low competition. Market dominator Qantas has reportedly said it wants to charge extra for credit cards that do not carry the Qantas name, but an airline spokeswoman yesterday could not confirm the domestic and international carrier's intention.

Cecil Johnson reviews Rick Kash's book The New Law of Demand and Supply.

Sears Credit supplies Kash with an example of how knowing the wishes and needs of your most profitable demand segment pays off. The author tells of the panic that hit Sears Credit when the corporation decided to begin accepting MasterCard and Visa. Thought was first given to reducing the percentage rate on the Sears Card to compete. But that approach was discarded after research revealed that the percentage rate didn't matter that much to Sears' most profitable demand group. Those customers just wanted low minimum monthly payments and Sears' commitment to stand by its products. The Sears customers in the researchers' target group said they would continue to use their Sears cards in order to leave room on their other cards, which could be used at other stores. "If they maxed out those cards and the refrigerator broke down, only the Sears card stood between them and no refrigerator," Kash writes. The Sears Credit team used its findings, Kash writes, to enable Sears Credit to give up its monopoly and still increase business performance. "It raised the Sears share of credit card transactions in its stores, and its margins actually went up," he writes. "Over three years, its profits on the card rose by 44 percent."

Looks like a most interesting book (published last September) -- it gets great reviews on Amazon -- will have to check it out! His firm's web site also has an interview with Rick Kash.

Chris O'Malley reports on the growth in gift cards.

Buying a gift card from a bank is more involved than merely pulling a card off a rack at the home improvement store. Both Key and National City require purchasers to fill out name, address, phone number and Social Security number. At one National City branch, an employee also asked for date of birth and even collected the buyer's driver's license, disappearing with it into a back office.

John Tagliabue profiles René Carron, new chairman of Crédit Agricole.

Most French bankers enjoy their cheese. René Carron goes one better. He owns a herd of 60 cows, producing milk for tomme de Savoie, the cheese of his native Savoy. But then Mr. Carron, 60, the new chairman of Crédit Agricole, the big French bank, is no ordinary banker. The latest proof of the difference came two weeks ago, when, in a deft negotiating strike, he reached an agreement to acquire control of Crédit Lyonnais for $16 billion, in a deal that would create France's biggest bank, second only to Deutsche Bank as the largest in Europe.