BANKING & FINANCE - Jan. 1, 1993

Holiday Credit Card Use Surged: A big jump in credit-card use during the Christmas shopping season has some analysts wondering whether consumers may be in for a post-New Year’s hangover when bills come due. The nation’s two biggest credit card companies, Visa International and Mastercard International, said preliminary figures indicated that in the weeks before Christmas, credit-card use was up more than 20% from a year earlier. Other card issuers also reported hefty gains. The rate of payment by check appeared to have been virtually flat during the holiday shopping period.