Publication Date

1968

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Carey, Edwin L.||Bishop, George W. (George Wesley), 1910-

Degree Name

M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration)

Legacy Department

College of Business

Abstract

The banking industry offers many types of credit which are used for any of a number of reasons. One of the newest forms of bank credit is the bank charge card, which offers bank customers an opportunity to make purchases off goods and services from a widely diversified group of retail outlets. The principle attention of this research investigation was to analyze some of the more important demographic characteristics of the cardholders and how these factors are related to the utilization of the bank charge card. The demographic characteristics were related, first to the users and non-users of the charge card, and secondly, to the payers and non-payers of interest, Finally, the transactions, which indicate how cardholders use the charge card, were analyzed as first use transactions in comparison to subsequent use transactions. The demographic factors which appear on the charge card application form are stored on electronic data processing equipment. For these factors the analysis considered the whole population of cardholders. However, data for several demographic factors, which were not part of the application form, were collected through telephone interviews by the bank staff. The interviewed cardholders were selected at random in accordance with accepted statistical sampling principles. The data collected for the transactions analysis were collected on a random selection basis from the whole cardholder population. Following are the main conclusions drawn regarding the users and non-users, and the payers and non-payers of interest. 1. The data indicates a tendency for an increase in the percentage of non-users with an increase in the age of the cardholder. 2. The tendency of non-use of the charge card increases as the number of years at the present address increases. 3. The use of the charge card tends to increase as the level of education increases. 4. The data indicates a tendency for an increase in the percentage of use with an increase in household size. 5. The greatest percentage of users have an average annual income of $10,000 to $14,999 and have professional, technical, managerial, or proprietor type of occupation, 6. The percentage of interest payers tends to increase with multiple family dwelling units, larger households, and blue collar type of occupation. 7. The percentage of non-payers of interest tends to increase with the level of education and annual income. 8. The analysis of first use transactions classified as clothing, service station and discount department store retain the same ranking when analyzed as subsequent use transactions. 9. The greatest user of the bank charge card is less than thirty-five years old, a college graduate and has lived at his present address less than one year. He has an annual income of $10,000 to $14,999 and is likely to have a professional or technical type of occupation. 10. The cardholder who is the greatest non-user tends to be sixty-five years old, and is less than a high school graduate. He is also from a small household of one or two members and has lived at his present address for more than ten years. 11. The cardholder who is the greatest payer of interest tends to live in a multiple family situation and is less than a high school graduate. There are more than five members in the household, his income is less than $5,000 per year and he works at a non-skilled job. 12. The greatest non-payer of interest lives in a single family situation, is a college graduate and is from a small household of three or less members. He has an annual income in excess of $25,000 per year and works in a professional or technical occupation.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.

Extent

viii, 69 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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