Idle credit cards prompt Citi, HSBC overhaul
Free rice cookers and suitcases were among the special deals that tempted Chiu Wing-suet into accumulating her 20 credit cards, many of which are crammed into her wallet. She's unlikely to accept any more such offers.
"I've come to realize that most of my cards are useless," said the 30-year-old Hong Kong nurse. "I basically use only one card, for shopping and travel booking online."
The shifting attitude of Asian consumers such as Chiu is upending the economics of the credit-card industry, and banks like Citigroup Inc, HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc are taking note. The banks, which increasingly rely on the region's swelling number of affluent people to drive profits, are slashing the number of card products they offer in Asia and focusing instead on getting a smaller range of cards adopted for online payments.
