European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 3, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 a the stars and Stripe business new Dollar helped by jitters Over reunification As unification of Germany edges closer the financial jitters grow. Pulling East Germany s Economy Back from the Brink of oblivion will be costly. No one knows How Many billions of West Marks it will take. Jens Urc Fischer of manufacturers Hannover in Frankfurt West Germany says these unification worries arc helping the Dollar. He expects it to continue to gain. �?o1 believe we will Sec the Dollar going to 1.70 or 1.72 Marks within the next few weeks. I done to think that it will go much above that figure however a Fischer said. Differing opinions within the West German can by Mary Neth trial Bank about plans for the upcoming German monetary Cunion arc said to have had an unsettling affect recently on the world markets. While top officials at the Central Bank publicly accept the West German plan Many regional Bankers have complained that the government has ignored their advice. Not everyone however agrees on the Impact of the Bankers Lack of Unity. I inter Teich of the Bank of Boston in Frankfurt does not believe the Flap has had any real Impact on the markets. He said what matters is How the East germans spend their Money in july. A if they spend practically All they have it will Lead to inflation and German interest rates will be pushed up a he said. No matter what happens big Dollar gains Are ruled out by the financial experts. The . Economy slowed by the budget deficit weak consumer spending and heavy debt loads make that impossible they say. In Teichs opinion the new unemployment figures from the United states show a country on the Edge of recession. According to the government report the nations unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent in May As weak Job growth continued for the third straight month. The civilian jobless rate As measured in a household Survey by the labor department fell from the 5.4 percent jobless rate registered in april. The nations unemployment rate has been fluctuating dose to 5.3 percent for More than a year. The number of new jobs increased by 164,000. That number however was artificially bolstered by the Federal governments hiring of 145,000 temporary census workers. The 19,000 jobs created by the rest of the Economy was far below private economists estimates. They had expected non government industries to add at least 125,000 new jobs in May. The labor department said that since a Post recession Peak in March 1989, about 310,000 factory jobs have been lost. That includes 85,000 in the electrical equipment Field and 55,000 in the Auto Industry. Teich said the fact that people arc Rushing out and buying . Bonds also is bolstering the Dollar. It is a temporary situation he said. Bonds arc being purchased Only because people Are worried about a . Economic turndown. The stars and stripes minimum wage increases for military summer hires by Rosemary Sawyer staff writer Young people employed in military summer hire programs will pocket a Little More Money this year As a result of the minimum wage increases. Pentagon officials approved an hourly wage of $3.25, up from $2.90. The increase went into effect Friday. Summer hire programs provide employment to Young people during the summer recess. Jobs Range from unskilled to medium skilled clerical and labor positions. The air Force has slots for about 1,800 summer hires in Europe this year. The army could not say How Many jobs it expects to fill this summer As hiring is done locally based on available funds. However the command has averaged about 4,000 jobs each summer Over the past few years. The Navy expects to employ about 320 youths at its european bases this summer. To be eligible for the Safe program the applicant must be a . Citizen family member of a service member or government employee assigned in Europe. They also must be 14 to 23 years old and enrolled or accepted for enrolment for the coming semester at a secondary school or institution of higher learning according to capt. Paula Kougeas a spokeswoman for the air Force in Europe. A each Safe Central civilian personnel office is responsible for establishing their own summer hire program a Kougeas said. A applicants should Contact their local Capo to find out More information on procedures for applying deadlines for accepting applications  to be considered for the army a summer hire program the applicant must reside with the sponsor and be 14 to 21 years old said Usa eur spokesman Richard Lane. They can be an unmarried child stepchild adopted child or someone under Legal guardianship of the sponsor. Spouses under 18 years of age who Are still in High school Are also eligible. Lotteries will be held in army communities where the number of applicants exceeds the number of available positions. Older youths Ages 16 to 21, Are placed before the 14 and 15-year-Olds, Lane said. Interested youths should Contact their local personnel office for More information Lane said. Cmdr. Art Humphries spokesman for the Navy in Europe also referred youths to their local civilian personnel offices for information on summer work. A fall four Navy locations Are currently in the advertising process locally for full and part time summer hire both in Blue and White Collar jobs a he said. Mastercard advertising itself As a americans credit card by Anthony Ramirez by the new York times something risky is happening at Mastercard. After years of me too marketing that emulated visa and american express the credit card is now pitching itself to Middle America and away from the affluent professionals depicted in the advertising of its rivals. A if coca cola is americans soft drink and Mcdonald a is americans hamburger then we want Mastercard to be americans credit card a said Alex w. A a Peter Hart president and chief executive of Mastercard International inc. In new York. A most people done to eat oysters at Doyle a in Australia a he added alluding to visas portrayal of card users in its commercials. Mastercard a new advertisements which began last month depict such relatively Ordinary activities As a Young Man furnishing his first apartment and using Mastercard to pay for a table and chairs. The commercials carry the new slogan a for the Way we really  by moving away from the Glamour of conspicuous consumption to the humdrum of everyday concerns Mastercard Hopes to win a larger share of the $423 billion that americans charged on All credit cards last year. The strategy shift is especially important because As credit cards proliferate Consumers Are using general purpose charge cards like visa and Mastercard More than those tied to specific department stores and Oil companies. But Many marketing experts and Industry analysts doubt that Mastercard a approach can overcome visas inherent advantages which include a More powerful Brand image and a More established organization. Others however say Mastercard can succeed by developing relatively untapped markets like Rural Consumers. Mastercard will spend up to $45 million on such advertising Over the next year to help narrow the Gap with visa the nation s most issued credit card. Visa has 124 million cards outstanding to 87 million for Mastercard. Along with the new marketing approach Mastercard has also modernized its logo of intersecting circles and brightened the colors to red and yellow from Orangis red and pea soup Green. The aim of All these changes is to make people hesitate in the few seconds before they proffer their visa card and persuade them to choose Mastercard instead. A a Mastercard a Campaign is fabulous a said h. Spencer Nilson publisher of the Nilson report an Industry newsletter for credit card issuers. A but it is not going to work one bit. Visa is just too far  Mastercard May even lose customers said John l. Morton research director at total research corp., a marketing consultant. A you done to get average Joes with average Joe advertising a he said. Unlike american express co., which is a single publicly owned corporation Mastercard and visa arc actually huge private associations of 16,500 Banks savings and loan associations credit unions and others in the Case of Mastercard and 19,000 for visa. The institutions make most of their Money from the interest they charge on the balances that Consumers carry Over each month. American express card holders Are expected to pay off their monthly balances in full. Like american express visa and Mastercard also make Money from collecting annual membership fees from Consumers and commissions from merchants who accept the cards. Although most Banks Issue both visa and Mastercard they make less profit from Mastercard. For one thing there Are 37 million fewer Mastercard than visas. Mastercard holders also buy less with their cards a an estimated $925 in charges this year compared with an estimated $1,031 for visa a so Banks earn less from merchant fees and interest on balances. Bank cards Are the major growth segment in the lending business. They accounted for an estimated 48 cents of every Dollar charged on a credit card in 1989, up from 44.2 cents in 1988, according to the Nilson report. By 1995, the figure May reach nearly 60 cents of every credit Dollar. Last year Mastercard a share of credit card purchases was 19.8 percent or $83.9 billion. That share is up from 17.9 percent or $74 billion a year earlier. But top ranked visa is not standing still. It had a 28.8 percent share or $125.8 billion up from 26.3 percent or $ 108.9 billion. Mastercard started out As no. 2 but has not always been As far behind visa As it is now. Established in 1966, master charge As it was called then was a group of relatively Small East coast Banks that did not want to be affiliated with Banka Dericard a product of the san Francisco based Bank of America. Banka Dericard was the progenitor of visa International which is based in san Mateo Calif. In 1977, a Federal court overturned the tract pfc. 0 merchants accepting either visa or Mastercard but not both. By the following year bolstered by the wider merchant acceptance Mastercard grew to 55.5 million cards and was neck and neck with visa