$981 Billion African American Market Offers Potential Gold Mine to Attentive Financial Services

New York, October 9, 2007 — African Americans not only hold fewer credit cards than any other major racial or ethnic group, but they also use them far less often, leaving significant room for growth in the African American market which is projected to wield a buying power of $981 billion by 2010, according to African American Credit, Debit and Prepaid Card Users: Undervalued and Overlooked, a new report from Packaged Facts.

Overall, the financial services industry does little to cultivate the African American market as a long-term source of valuable customers. There remains feverish interest in the growing Hispanic population, while overlooking the fact that incomes of African Americans continue to outpace Hispanics. This presents a tremendous opportunity for financial service organizations in terms of both attracting more cardholders and persuading them to increase the frequency of use.

Currently, over 2 million African American households have incomes of $75,000. Packaged Facts estimates that the aggregate income of affluent black households — those bringing in $100,000 or more per year — has already reached $116 billion. Yet only 45% of adult Blacks in the United States had or used credit cards in the fall of 2006, accounting for just 7% of the total adult credit card user population, and the African American debit card use rate scored below the general population’s rate.

“Credit, debit and prepaid card companies have not used their creativity in approaching African American customers as a worthwhile focus of marketing resources and product development,” notes Tatjana Meerman, the publisher of Packaged Facts. “However, we have learned that African Americans typically value good financial advice more than other groups, are more likely to read the business section of the newspaper, and are more receptive to financial services advertising. It’s clear that they are key targets for acquiring new customers.”

The African American Credit, Debit and Prepaid Card Users report provides a comprehensive look at the market for financial service opportunities among the African American population. The report is available from Packaged Facts by visiting: http://www.packagedfacts.com/African-Americans-Credit-1383055.

About Packaged Facts
Packaged Facts publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer industries, including consumer goods and retailing, food and beverage, and demographics. For more information visit www.PackagedFacts.com, or contact Tom Ehart at 240-747-3014, or tehart@marketresearch.com.