For the first time ever, non-credit union credit card issuers ofprime and super prime credit cards in 2011 and 2012 have made moremoney from operational fees on their card programs than they havefrom interest on credit card loans, according to a leading cardindustry analyst.

R.K.Hammer, founder of the Card Knowledge Factory, aCalifornia-based card consultancy, said fee income as a percentage of total income from card portfolioswith the highest credit scores had been rising for some time.

“The R.K. Hammer card revenue model estimates that 55% of thecard industry's total revenue last year came from fees, with 45%from interest; never has the card fees trend line intersected therevenue line from interest – except for 2011 and 2012,” the firmnoted.

“A combination of declining outstanding card loans these pastfour years which in turn reduced interest earned, plus legislationon how rates may not be changed and cautious consumers caused theamount of interest income to decline. Interest was falling, whilefees were rising, a growing trend written about often in thepast.

“As expected, issuer attention in 2012 had in response beendirected to fees, of all types, including … fees on services thathad no fees earlier. In the year earlier period, 2011, card feesearned 52% in our model, while interest came in at 48% of totalrevenue that year,” the firm concluded.

Credit union card programs have generally carried significantlylower fees than non-credit union card programs, but marketingexperts point out that credit unions have often failed to markettheir cards on that fee difference.