On the wires:

• U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies Fall by More Than 32% Compared to Same Time Last Year
• NetSecure Technologies Introduces Enhanced Endpoint Security Product Suite
• FICO Offers Telrock Mobile Payment Apps to Help Clients Improve Customer Service and Payments
• ACCEL/Exchange Network Sets New Growth Records in 2010
• Authentify Celebrates 10 Years of Providing Phone Based Authentication Services

On the web:

• eMarketer: Mobile Payments Take Hold Around the World
• NPR: Mobile Payments Challenge Credit Cards
• Portals and Rails: Third-party service provider risk and the Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices rule
• Square: Square Drops Fixed Component of Swipe Pricing

The US Federal Reserve has reported its latest G.19 Consumer Credit statistics - finding that "in July, total consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 1-3/4 percent. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 6-1/4 percent, and nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 1/2 percent."

The US Federal Reserve has reported its latest G.19 Consumer Credit statistics - finding that "Consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 3-1/4 percent in the second quarter. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 9-1/2 percent, and nonrevolving credit was about unchanged. In June, consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 3/4 percent, revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 6-1/2 percent, and nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 2-1/2 percent."

The US Federal Reserve has reported its latest G.19 Consumer Credit statistics - finding that "Consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 4-1/2 percent in May 2010. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 10-1/2 percent, and nonrevolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 1-1/2 percent."

The Federal Reserve has published its latest G.19 report on Consumer Credit - reporting that while overall consumer credit increased at an annual rate 0.5% in April, revolving consumer credit declined at an annual rate of 12% in the month. Revolving debt outstanding at the end of April 2010 was $838 billion - down over $160 billion from the same month in 2009.

In a press release, FICO announced that it is finding that "mortgage default risk for consumers with high FICO scores now exceeds their credit card default risk, even though most credit cards are unsecured credit and mortgages are secured by real estate. The company observed a parallel rise in mortgage delinquencies for higher-scoring U.S. consumers." READ MORE »

The latest Federal Reserve G.19 Consumer Credit report finds that revolving consumer credit in the US declined at an annual rate of 11.7% in December. For the full year, consumer credit declined 9.5% - from $957.3 billion at the end of 2008 to $866 billion at year end 2009.

A new study by TransUnion confirms that the "new" payment hierarchy -- where consumers pay their credit cards prior to their mortgages -- is continuing, with the trend occurring more readily than ever before. READ MORE »

Fitch has announced that its "December Retail Credit Card Index results show that more than one in every eight dollars of receivables was written off as uncollectable during the November collection period on an annualized basis. Taken with the recent delinquency trends and Fitch's expectation for unemployment, Fitch expects retail card chargeoffs to remain elevated throughout first half-2010."

The Federal Reserve has published its G.19 Consumer Credit report for November 2009 - reporting that revolving credit in November fell at an annual rate of 18-1/2 percent to $874 billion. Revolving credit outstanding peaked in the third quarter of 2008 at $975.2 billion. Nonrevolving credit decreased in November at an annual rate of 3 percent.

Consumer delinquency rates for bankcards, first mortgages and home equity lines of credit again rose month-to-month in November, according to Equifax's monthly Credit Trend Report.

Bankcard issuers continued a year-long trend of closing accounts and reducing credit lines. Card risk management programs have accelerated since July of 2008, reducing card credit lines by $803 billion and the number of accounts by 93 million. Delinquency rates for bankcards picked up notably since the end of 2008 in tandem with rising unemployment. The November 2009 60-days-past-due rate of 4.62 percent is almost a full percent higher than the November 2008 rate of 3.76 percent. However, the rate still remains below the peak of 4.79 percent in May 2009. READ MORE »

In an article titled "Credit-Card Issuers Under Pressure", Aparajita Saha-Bubna writes for the Wall St. Journal about the recently reported credit losses from major credit card issuers.

The Federal Reserve's G.19 Consumer Credit report issued this afternoon reports that consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 1.7 percent in October. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 9.3 percent while nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 2.6 percent.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report, "Credit Cards: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Could Better Reflect the Evolving Debt Collection Market Place and Use of Technology".

The GAO said it was asked by Congress to examine (1) the federal and state consumer protections and enforcement responsibilities related to the credit card debt collection; (2) the process and practices involved in collecting and selling delinquent credit card debt; and (3) and issues that may exist related to some of these processes and practices.

Bank of America reported financial results this morning for the third quarter of 2009. In its Global Card Services unit, the bank reported card purchase volumes declined over 14% year over year from $63.3 billion to $53 billion. The charge-off rate doubled - from 6.4% to 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Debit card purchase volume grew slightly about 3% from $53.2 billion to $54.7 billion.

In an article titled "Credit-Card Losses Underscore Challenges Facing Lenders", Aparapjita Saha-Bubna writes for the Wall St. Journal on the financial results reported by major US credit card issuers - noting that "the latest numbers indicate that consumers continue to struggle amid high joblessness, as delinquency rates, a key gauge of future losses, continue to rise for most card issuers."

In an article titled "Turmoil in Arbitration Empire Upends Credit-Card Disputes", Carrick Mollenkamp, Dionne Searcey and Nathan Koppel write for the Wall Street Journal about credit card consumer debt dispute handling via arbitration - and, in particular, about Minneapolis-based NAF - National Arbitration Forum.

Consumers continue to fight the recession by saving more and paying off debt, banks are responding with more careful lending, and stressed homeowners increasingly are falling behind on mortgages on their primary residence, according to the latest Equifax Credit Trends Report for September 2009. READ MORE »

The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) has announced that it will welcome more than 30 senior executives from a broad cross-sector of the financial industry in Chicago today for a joint meeting of its Innovators and Responsible Credit Roundtables. The gathering seeks to provide insight and actionable ideas for companies, advance their individual efforts in developing new projects and business models, and identify opportunities for industry-wide action. READ MORE »

The Federal Reserve is out with its latest G.19 Consumer Credit report for July 2009. According to the Fed, US consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 10-1/2 percent in July 2009. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 8 percent, and nonrevolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 11-3/4 percent.

In an article in tomorrow's Washington Post titled "Seniors Leaning on Credit", Nancy Trejos reports on the credit card debt burdens facing senior citizens - where balances have increased the fastest of any age group.

Trejos writes: "Complicating matters, many card companies have raised interest rates, fees and minimum payments recently in anticipation of a new law taking effect in February that will restrict such hikes. Older borrowers have been hit especially hard by such actions, consumer advocates said, because their incomes are fixed and their ability to get a job is limited."

Demos has published a new report titled "THE PLASTIC SAFETY NET - How Households are Coping in a Fragile Economy" by Tamara Draut and Jose Garcia.

From the abstract:

"While the economic recession continues to threaten the financial security of low- and middle-income households, its effects have been heightened by the reality that, even before the downturn, millions of households were experiencing difficulties meeting the most basic expenses. Now, as families experience declining home values and tightened credit markets, many are falling behind on their mortgage and credit card payments.

The following report shows how skyrocketing costs, dwindling savings, stagnant wages and medical debt have forced low and middle-income families to turn to plastic as the de-facto safety net.

The report is based on a survey conducted between April and August 2008-consisted of 1,205 phone interviews with low- and middle-income households whose incomes fell between 50 percent and 120 percent of local median income; such households comprise roughly half of all households in the country.

The American Bankers Association’s Consumer Credit Delinquency Bulletin reported today that in the first quarter of 2009 that bank card delinquencies rose 23 basis points to 4.75 percent (s.a.) of all accounts, compared to 4.52 percent in the previous quarter. (The record was 4.81 percent in the second quarter of 2005.) The balances on those delinquent accounts rose dramatically, up 108 basis points to 6.60 percent (n.s.a.) of the value of all outstanding bank card debt, marking a new record. READ MORE »

TransUnion.com has released the results of its analysis of trends in the credit card lending industry for the first quarter of 2009 based upon approximately 27 million anonymous, individual credit files - providing a real-life perspective on how U.S. consumers are managing their credit health.

Nationally, the bankcard delinquency rate (the ratio of bankcard borrowers 90 days or more delinquent on one or more of their bankcards) increased to 1.32 percent in the first quarter of 2009, up 9.1 percent over the previous quarter. Year over year, bankcard delinquencies increased 11 percent from 1.19 to 1.32 percent. READ MORE »

In an article titled "Weighing the Options with Credit Card Debt", Tara Siegel Bernard writes for Saturday's New York Times about the options available to consumers to deal with credit card debt.

The list of options she recommends isn't long:

1. Call your card issuer - and do it yourself. Issuers have alternative repayment plans available - but they may also reduce current credit limits to the amount of debt currently outstanding.
2. Find and work with a credit card debt counselor. A legitimate counselor should be able to negotiate a credit card debt management plan with the credit card issuer. Focus on finding a legitimate one.
3. Work with a debt settlement company - but be very, very careful.
4. Bankruptcy.

That's it. Have other suggestions - add your comments!

Auriemma Consulting Group has published research finding that British consumers are less likely to have credit card debt than they were before the credit crunch. "By the end of 2008, consumers users were 21% less likely to be burdened by credit card debt than they were at the beginning of the year. In Q1 2008, 63% of British consumers carried balances on their credit cards. By the end of 2008, the incidence of revolving debt on credit cards fell to just 50%." READ MORE »

In an article titled "Rising Credit Card Losses Are Next Challenge for Banks" in Monday's New York Times, Eric Dash and Andrew Martin write about the rising credit losses ahead for US credit card issuers. They write that "credit card lenders are bracing for the worst year [2009] in the industry’s history."

The Federal Reserve has published its G.19 Consumer Credit report for the first quarter 2009. Consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 2 percent in the first quarter. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 6-1/2 percent, and nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 1 percent. In March, consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 5-1/4 percent with revolving credit declining 6.8 percent.

The latest G.19 Consumer Credit data for February 2009 released yesterday by the Federal Reserve shows a dramatic decline in revolving credit - declining at an annual rate of 9-3/4 percent for the month. Overall, consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 3-1/2 percent in February 2009 and nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 1/4 percent.