More than 20 million general purpose credit and debit cards were added to the national cardbase during the third quarter. VISA, which holds a 52% share based on total U.S. cards-in-force, added more than nine million cards to end the quarter with 452.5 million credit and debit cards. MasterCard, with a 37.5% share, added more than eight million credit and debit cards in 3Q/04. American Express grew by 600,000 cards in the third quarter to 38 million. For complete details on card breakouts by network, visit CardData (www.carddata.com).
| 3Q/04 CARDS-IN-FORCE | |
|---|---|
| VISA: | 452.5 million |
| MasterCard: | 325.8 million |
| Discover: | 53.7 million |
| American Express: | 38.0 million |
| TOTAL: | 870.0 million |
| Source: CardData (www.carddata.com) | |