European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday july 13, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 17v Money matters today s tip Germany a Volkswagen a has signed a joint venture agreement to produce pickup trucks in Taiwan. Volkswagen is to provide 50 percent of the technology and put up one third of around $200 million in starting capital in the venture with Taiwan a going Fong investment co. To form the Ching Chung motor co. T Ching Chung which will begin operations in late 1993, expects by 1998 to produce 30,000, dual use a commercial and passenger a pickups for Sale in Taiwan yearly. Volkswagen is the 10th foreign but the first German automaker to invest in joint venture production facilities in Taiwan. Conversion rates London up fridays rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at s368 an ounce Silver at $4.38. I july 11 july 12 British pound.1.6055 1.6455 German mark.1.835 1.7965 French franc.6.152 6.167 dutch guilder.2.041 2.05 belgian franc.37.2925 a 37.4625 italian lira.1,350.50 1,354.35 Swiss franc. 1.59 1.5565 greek drachma.197.91 198.60 turkish lira. 4,378.10 4,401.40 saudi arabian riyal.3.7503 3.73 Spanish peseta.113.75 114.05 portuguese escudo.157.13 157.75 Canadian dollar.1.1484 1.1488 austrian schilling.12.76 12.82 norwegian krone.7.0715 7.096 danish krone.7.0175 7.04 these Are unofficial rates As reported by wire service and banking sources and they Are listed to give some idea of daily currency fluctuations. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1.77 through saturday based on fridays noontime Price fixing. . Credit card wars involve Hiah stakes retail Competition by Albert b. Crenshaw the Washington Post Washington it is Early yet and Little is stirring in the restaurants and bars. But the discover cards swat team is already in action. The teams Mission is to sign up As Many restaurants As possible to accept the discover credit card a and urge their customers to use discover while keeping their other cards in their wallets especially american express. Armed with an array of come on including lower fees the team haunts lobbies Dodges scurrying waiters and braves the summer heat to make its pitch to restaurant owners and managers. Credit card wars have hit the country. And bitter wars they Are. American express co., Sears Roebuck and  discover and the thousands of Banks that Issue visa and Mastercard Are locked in combat. Quot not Only is relative newcomer discover seeking to Elbow its Way Forward in the pack but visa and american express also Are going after each other with no holds barred. And entering the Battle Are corporate giants like Ford motor co. And american Telephone amp Telegraph co. At the moment the big winners Are the merchants who accept credit cards and the Consumers who use them. The Competition is putting downward pressure on the transaction fees that merchants must pay to the card companies. Consumers frequently have been Able to get visas and Mastercard with no annual fee. And there have been signs recently that interest rates charged by card companies Are starting to slip. A an unprecedented number of attractive credit card offers from major issuers have emerged in the past few weeks and More Are on the horizon a said Robert b. Mckinley of ram research a research and publishing firm in Frederick my. A is this signalling a crack in card inter is this signalling a crack in card interest rates absolutely Robert Mckinley researcher est rates  the ferocity of the Battle should be no Surprise Given the volume of business at stake. A in the last decade the number of general circulation credit cards has climbed to More than 267 million nationally from 128 million in 1980. More than $300 billion a year is charged on these cards today compared with $67.4 billion in 1980. As discover touts its Low fees to restaurants and offers discounts to card holders visa offers merchants a Quot profit improvement calculator a showing How much they would save on business that shifts from american express. For its Patt american express is offering a free mile of air travel for every Dollar charged by a card Holder on an american express card. The Battle is already taking its toll on the once Lush profits traditional in the credit card Industry and it is expected to fundamentally reshape the Market. Some experts foresee a Day when most of the nations credit cards Are issued by a few giant companies a whose names Are As Likely to be Sears at amp to and Ford As they arc to be Citibank Chase Manhattan or Crystar. At least one observer expects to see an a american express visa card combining the giant International card base of american express with the economic Structure of a Bank credit card. One beneficiary of the Battle is merchants who have discovered that customers often carry More than one card allowing them to play card companies off one another. It also Means a store or restaurant can refuse to take a particular card with minimal risk of losing the Sale. The realization has touched off a merchant revolt against american express. Led by a group of Rybout 100 restaurants in Boston the outbreak is threatening to spread. And it has sent american express executives scrambling. The Boston eateries won modest fee concessions and numerous service upgrades but Many in the Industry wonder How Long american express will be Able to maintain its fee Structure. American express along with diners club and carte Blanche arc known As a travel and entertainment Quot cards. Customers arc expected to pay off to lipid balances each month and they do not pay finance charges. Thus american express and these issuers earn no interest on the card balances. Instead they depend on annual fees and merchant charges for their income. Visa and Mastercard a and discover a Are a revolving credit cards. Issued by Banks these cards do earn interest from customers who do not pay their balances in full each month. And with interest rates of 19 percent or More in Many cases issuers of these cards can afford to charge merchants less and even to waive their annual fees to customers. However just As visa and Mastercard train their guns on american express discover is seeking to do the same 4o them. The team in Washington was prepared to offer merchants transaction fee charges of around 1.8 percent and As discovers Harold Lilly put it a things Are going very  producer Kaifu visit settles few Trade disputes prices fall Washington a prices paid by wholesalers fell 0.3 percent in june the third decline in five months the government said Friday in a signal that inflation pressures Are subsiding before they reach the consumer. The unexpected seasonally adjusted drop in the labor departments producer Price Index followed an 0.6 percent Spike in May a modest 0.2 percent gain in april and declines in both March and february. In another report the Commerce department said retail sales dipped 0.2 percent in june the third loss this year despite an Advance in the automobile sector. Sales totalled a seasonally adjusted $151.9 billion Down from $152.2 billion in May. Consumer spending which accounts for two thirds of the nations economic activity is being held Back by slow income growth and huge debts incurred in the 1980s, Ati Alyss con tend. Some said the tepid Pace of personal consumption endangers the recovery. Kennebunkport Maine a president Bush and japanese prime minister Toshiki Kaifu Are hoping that boat rides and Exchange visits can go a Long Way to mend strained relations Between the two economic superpowers. But while Bush played his role As Host to the utmost he was unable to win concessions from Japan concerning thorny Trade disputes separating the two nations. Kaifu was wrapping up his Brief visit to Bush a vacation Home Friday with final discussions As both men prepare for next weeks annual seven nation economic Summit in London. On thursday Bush announced that he will visit Japan in late november. The visit will also include stops in South Korea and Australia. At a joint news conference both men sought to play Down strains in the .-Japan relationship that have heightened this year Over lingering resentment by Many in Congress who saw Only reluctant support by Japan during the persian Gulf War. The administration concerned that Japan a Trade surplus with the United states is rising again has stepped up efforts to reduce that imbalance by trying to pry open japanese markets to More american products including Rice and computer chips. Americans Trade deficit with Japan totalled $41 billion last year or nearly half the total . Trade deficit of $101 billion. Both leaders conceded that they had not made Progress on the Issue of removing Japan a near total ban on Rice imports although they agreed to continue discussing the Issue in the context of global free Trade talks. The United states is pushing in those discussions known As the Uruguay round to significantly reduce barriers to Trade in farm goods. Officials believe that Japan s removal of the Rice import ban would serve As a catalyst in getting european countries to agree to Sharp reductions in their farm subsidy programs. Kaifu was Able to resolve one dispute with the United states Over the level of Japan a contributions to the War Effort. Just before leaving for his visit with Bush Kaifu s Cabinet approved an additional $500 million which was designed to make up for currency fluctuations that caused Japan to pay about 5 percent less than the $9 billion Kaifu pledged when the War started in january. Bush said the payment had a totally resolved the dispute. A some elements in this country appear to want to Bash Japan a Bush said. A let me simply say this relationship is big its Broad its Strong it transcends any one Issue or another a Bush said. A for his part Kaifu said a when in comes to Japan-. Relations we believe that instead of bashing each other we should be basking together looking ahead in the same  at president Bush and japanese prime minister Toshiki Kaifu in Maine