By Jeff McKinney
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The recession and weak economy have not stopped consumers from using their plastic.

Americans last year charged $660.9 billion in bank credit card debt, up about 9 percent over $607.7 billion in 2001, according to Cardweb .com Inc., an online firm that tracks the electronic-payment industry.

The growth was fueled by MasterCard's 14 percent increase in outstanding balances last year, as the nation's second-largest payment provider passed No. 1 Visa as the largest source of bank credit cards.

In 2002, MasterCard had about 267 million in credit cards in force, while Visa had about 258.4 million.

Still, Visa dominates when it comes to amounts charged.

Visa has a 42 percent share of the credit card market, while MasterCard maintains a 34 percent share. Since 84 million U.S. households have at least one credit card, debt per household is now about $7,868.

KeyCorp gets credits for low-income areas

The parent of Key Bank has been awarded $284 million in tax credits to increase lending in low- to moderate-income areas in the next five years.

The credits are part of a U.S. Department of Treasury federal tax incentive program that encourages lending in the targeted areas.

KeyCorp will use $150 million of its allocation to support small-business lending, community commercial real estate and financial-services counseling in the qualified areas where it operates, including Ohio and Indiana. Key operates 23 branches in the Cincinnati area.

The bank plans to use the remaining $134 million to provide equity and debt financing for medium- to large-sized commercial projects, including projects for residential and other development purposes.

PNC program offers nontraditional loans

Hoping to tap into an underserved market, PNC Bank has launched a new loan for entrepreneurs unable to secure traditional financing, Small Business Administration loans or other government-backed loans.

The PNC Capital Access Program is an alternative loan product for small businesses that have good growth potential, but don't meet all of the requirements for government-backed loan programs. PNC Bank says its product could be particularly helpful to businesses in low- to moderate-income areas.

The bank says its new loans might be suitable for a business that owns a building, but rents a portion to other occupants. Moreover, the loans might be obtained by an entrepreneur who is refinancing debt. PNC claims in both instances a business owner might not qualify for SBA or other government-backed financing in those cases. The PNC Capital Access Program is a back-up loan for entrepreneurs unable to qualify for conventional or government-backed programs.

PNC has 47 branches locally.

5/3, MasterCard offer reward plan

Hoping to boost fee income and transaction volume, Fifth Third Bank has teamed with MasterCard International to offer consumers more perks for using its debit and credit cards.

The Cincinnati bank says all debit card users can join the Fifth Third debit MasterCard reward program, limited to a select number of customers when it was initially launched in June.

Fifth Third also has joined with the nation's second-largest credit card issuer to launch the Fifth Third Cash Rewards MasterCard credit card, targeted to those who want cash rewards for their spending.

Under its bank rewards program, Fifth Third debit customers can earn one point for every $2 in purchases. Fifth Third customers using the credit MasterCard can earn 1 percent back for each $1 purchase made, up to $50,000 in annual purchases.

Fifth Third joins other financial companies that have launched similar reward programs in recent years, although the Cincinnati bank says it's among the first to have a combined debit and credit rewards program.

E-mail jmckinney@enquirer.com