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Living with credit (248)
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New, interesting products (69)
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Research, regulation, industry reports (177)
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Rewards (23)
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Protecting yourself (113)
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The fine print (36)
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Credit card miscellany (280)
Research, regulation, industry reports
American Express said its fourth-quarter earnings weakened, due to a previously announced charge of $438 million set aside to cover increased write-offs and delinquencies. Still, AmEx cheered its full-year results, with AmEx CEO Kenneth I. Chenault highlighting strong card spending and applications.
An operation marketing prepaid debit cards to consumers with poor credit has agreed to pay more than $2.2 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it "made unauthorized debits from consumers’ bank accounts and engaged in deceptive marketing practices," according to an FTC press release.
Credit card issuer Capital One posted a decline in fourth-quarter earnings after taking a provision of approximately $1.9 billion for loan losses. The provision was made up of about $1.3 billion in charge-offs and an allowance build of around $650 million.
Bank of America announced that its fourth-quarter net income tumbled amid problems in the capital markets and a slowdown in the U.S. economy. Among the main reasons for the earnings decline, BofA said its provision expense rose $1.74 billion, "largely due to a $1.33 billion addition to the reserve for credit losses." Additionally, net charge-offs (loans the bank thinks it will be unable to collect) increased to 0.91% from 0.82% a year earlier.
In a surprise move that underscores the depth of recession fears, American central bankers cut a key interest rate by 3/4 of 1 percent.
Washington Mutual announced late yesterday that it suffered a fourth-quarter net loss, stemming from trouble in the housing market, and warned that it anticipates a surge in credit card losses for 2008
Do you feel your credit card information is safe when you shop online? Two newly released reports may give you reason to pause before you answer that question.
In the latest earnings announcements from major U.S. credit card issuers, both J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo said their net income declined in the fourth quarter, even as both banks appeared to avoid the full impact of the subprime meltdown.
Second Life, a virtual online world, has its own currency that can be traded out for real money. Virtual gambling was recently banned in Second Life, and on Jan. 22, due to the fact that a loss of virtual money means a loss of real money, unchartered banks will no longer be welcome, either.
Citigroup reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $9.83 billion on subprime-related writedowns and a spike in U.S. consumer credit costs.
The Federal Trade Commission, as part of its effort to fight identity theft, wants feedback on one of the newest ID-theft tools -- the credit freeze.
American Express sounded a serious warning for the payment card industry yesterday, acknowledging that its cardholders both reduced their spending and were less able to pay their credit card bills in the final month of 2007.
It looks like the subprime mortgage debacle has begun to spill over to credit cards, with issuer Capital One slashing its earnings outlook amid rising credit card delinquencies.
Consumers relied heavily on credit cards to drive their spending in the run-up to the holiday season, according to recently published consumer credit statistics from the Federal Reserve.
Credit card issuers' reliance on fees edged up another notch in 2007, according to the annual profit/loss estimate put out by respected credit card industry analyst and investment banker R.K. Hammer.
Millions of Americans get Social Security payments but have no bank accounts. Under a program announced Friday, the federal government would give these "unbanked" Social Security recipients the option of withdrawing their benifits via a new debit card.
Maybe only some chunks of the sky are falling. The American Bankers Association today released its quarterly study of consumer borrowing, and despite an overall gloomy picture, credit card delinquencies were down.
The Federal Reserve thinks getting approved for a new credit card recently got tougher. But since communicating in easy-to-understand language just isn't the central bank's style, the Fed didn't come out and say so in exactly those words.
A new Charles Schwab survey examining teens' attitudes, behaviors and concerns about money reveals that teens are overconfident and undereducated. Parents need to work harder to make sure teens are prepared for the financial real world.
In two New England states, there's a struggle under way over gift card funds. A Dec. 20 warning to consumers from New Hampshire's Attorney General shined a spotlight on retailers who are trying to bypass the state's gift card rules. Meanwhile, the neighboring state of Maine is using its unclaimed property law to demand a portion of the funds left on dormant gift cards.
The New Year brings a new federal regulation that will help prevent more telemarketers from pestering you with offers during the dinner hour at home, spamming your email boxes or clogging your home mailbox with junk mail.
Men's Health put together a list of cities in its November issue with the worst personal debt, "Is Your City A Debt Trap?" and gave grades from A+ to F.
Congressional heat on the credit card industry just turned up a notch. A key congresswoman is floating a bill that would abolish many of the card issuers' practices that consumers find most offensive, including double-cycle billing, universal default and hiding rate changes in tiny type.
What do you think people do with tax rebates, repay credit card debt or spend the money? In a newly released paper from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, three economists find that most of us saved a little and spent a little. But the picture was worse for one group of people: Those nearly maxed out on their credit cards. For them, it represented an opportunity to rack up more debt.
My stories today on gas and oil prices in 2008, and about how many people will have to borrow money or freeze this winter, touched a nerve, judging from your e-mails.
What really happens to people who take out payday loans...
New statistics just out from the Federal Reserve Board give weight to what many of us know from our day-to-day lives. We're writing fewer checks these days to pay the bills.It's not that we're not paying our bills, but that...
New research says that person-to-person "social lending" will grow, grow fast, and that one of the major sources of demand for the loans will come from people who want to pay off credit card debt.
That's good news for consumers, because more competition for card customers will exert downward pressure on everyone's credit card rates.
Marketers note that the members of Gen M already in the workforce (dubbed "shadow millenials") have their own unique buying characteristics.
Credit cards have become the great equalizers between the haves and have nots. Even when they know they can't afford it, people with very little income can get the $399 iPhone, the iPods, the Xbox 360 games and other high-priced...
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About
The credit card industry stays under a microscope, both from researchers and regulators, the issuers' reports provide a snapshot on the economy. Find the latest data here.
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