2008 - What a Year for the US Credit Card Industry!

In an article titled "Recession, New Rules Trim Cards' Mass Appeal", Maria Aspan writes for the American Banker (subs. reqd.) about the changes made by US credit card issuers in 2008 - as they raised interest rates, lowered credit limits and pulled back on marketing as credit chargeoffs mounted.

Aspan writes: "[Credit card] issuers' baseline standards have changed, and they will be marketing to a much smaller pool of consumers for the foreseeable future. This shift, combined with consumers' newfound economic caution, is expected to magnify the long-running trend for debit card growth to outpace that of credit."