Monoline credit card platforms: The course of consolidation

The credit card trick

Now the sector is dominated by relatively high-rated players, largely with double-A and single-A ratings. These platforms are generally much bigger than their predecessors of yesteryear and, more often than not, part of large universal banking operations.

There were four large sub-prime issuers – NextBank, First Consumers, Providian and Metris. Sub-prime card platforms suffered from high portfolio losses and subsequent intervention by the regulator, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Of these, only Providian and Metris continued in business until they were taken over by large banks with diverse credit card portfolios, these being Washington Mutual (WaMu) and HSBC respectively.