Today, TransUnion released credit card industry origination data for the last three months of 2014, and the results are startling. In a country that is already heavily saturated with plastic, 14.41 million new cards were opened in Q4 2014, an increase of 7.1% from Q4 2013. Sub-prime customers (defined by TransUnion as customers with a VantageScore below 601) now represent 16.5% of originations, an increase of 26.7% compared to the previous year. In a world of low interest rates, credit cards remain an extremely profitable asset class for banks and financial institutions. As bankers look for growth, they will inevitably consider expanding their credit risk appetite, chasing more customers with lower credit scores.