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Charm on the Cuff. The new credit ideas bring closer the credit man's dream of a single card or check for almost all goods and services. The granddaddy of the credit cards, Diners' Club, has recently added health resorts, beauty parlors, charm schools, theaters from Broadway to Los Angeles, even boxing arenas and ballparks; for the fiscal year (ending March 31) it expects membership to rise by 425,000 and hit more than 1,000,000, billings to be $140 million, up 54%. American Express, which recently signed 3,753 auto dealers to honor its cards on repair jobs, has attracted 600,000 members. Hoteluminary Conrad Hilton has signed Socony Mobil's 32,000 gas stations, plans to launch a card for most consumer wants, starts with 1,000,000 Hilton-Statler cardholders. Name: Carte Blanche.
Does this outpouring mean credit is being used to excess? Bankers think not. Their delinquency record is minuscule; the recession's trough produced few deadbeats. Ben H. Wooten, president of Dallas' First National Bank, told the credit conference: ''Private credit has not been abused. The amount outstanding today is not excessive in relation to our ability to service it."