Credit cards increase advertising budgets as bank's cut theirs

In the first half of 2003, banks coupled with financial institutions have s pent zł. 107 million on advertising, which is about 12% less than last year. Since 2001, their advertising budgets are systematically shrinking. While z ł. 240 million was spent in 2001, at the end of 2002 it was zł. 222 million and zł. 107 million from January to June of this year. Millennium, PKO BP a nd Kredyt Bank are quoted to be among the leading advertisers. "The poor po sition of virtual banks is quite surprising: mBank is placed 10th on the ra nking list and Volkswagen Bank Direct 14th," said EquinoxMedia managing dir ector Dariusz Kowalski. He added that, as opposed to banks, credit card ope rators have increased their advertising outlays. "Mastercard has increased its advertising expenditure by 60% and Visa has spent over zł. 4 million al one," he said, adding that it is a visible sign of increasing competitivene ss among the operators. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B5) A.Z.