2005年NPR美国国家公共电台七月-Bank of America Buys MBNA in Deal by Jim

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.....the financial world today with a deal to acquire MBNA. MBNA is the largest independent issuer of credit cards in the world. If the deal goes through, Bank of America will pay about 35 billion dollars in cash and stock and wind up with about 20% of the nation's credit card business. As NPR's Jim Zarroli reports, it's part of an ongoing¹ consolidation² in the credit card business.

Only last year, Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis oversaw³ the acquisition of FleetBoston Financial Center for 48 billion dollars. Lewis's announcement today that his company would acquire Delaware-based MBNA in a cash and stock deal was just as dramatic.

The result: We're the country's top retailer⁴ of financial services and one of the most powerful and profitable financial companies.
Lewis appeared alongside MBNA officials at a news conference at New York's Waldorf Astoria this morning. If the deal goes through, Bank of America will have about 40 million credit card accounts, double what it has now, and about 143 billion dollars in credit card balances. It will also acquire a company known for its marketing⁵ skill. Lewis called MBNA a selling machine today. MBNA pioneered so-called affinity⁶ credit cards. Banking⁷ industry analyst⁸ KSP says the company offers credit cards that are linked to sports teams, charities and other groups, and the groups in turn help sell the cards to their donors⁹.

That is, colleges, or ingroups, community groups, that people are involved with , send them letters that say "wouldn't you like to have a little piece of your purchases go to us? Because we do good work" and you say "sure". And that has been an extremely profitable marketing tool that's fueled MBNA's growth.
But P says the credit card business has become saturated¹⁰ in recent years, with more and more lenders competing for the best customers, and that raises questions about MBNA's long-term growth prospects¹¹. MBNA President Bruce Hammond who will run the credit card division in the new company says Bank of America's huge network of branches will give his division a new way to market its products.

MBNA can now solicit¹² through the mail, but we don't have direct contact with our customers. Bank of America has that contact with hundreds of their customers every second.

Hammond notes that Bank of America has recently invested in China, a huge, untapped market for credit cards, and also has significant operations in other countries. GN, an analyst at bancred.com says Bank of America's acquisition of MBNA could have a downside for some consumers. N says the tough competition in the industry has led to more and more consolidation, with the ten largest card issuers controlling 90% of the market.

And that competition among those large issuers to get bigger, maybe a good news for people who have very good credit in the offers they will receive, but for card-holders that have had prior credit missteps, there is one fewer option for them to look to.

That means people with poor credit histories are more likely to end up with issuers who charge higher fees and interests rates. The acquisition is also certain to be felt by the two companies' employees. Bank of America said it would eliminate about 6,000 jobs once the deal is approved by shareholders¹³ and regulators, that amounts to less than 3% of the combined company's work force. The company said it didn't yet know where the job cuts would take place. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.