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

Equifax has launched Debt Wise, a new product that uses information from the Equifax Credit Report to consumers to free themselves from debt--faster. According to Equifax, "Debt Wise effectively eliminates one of the biggest hurdles for many debt laden consumers -- getting started. Subscribers can create their personal debt payment plan online in as little as 10 minutes, in the privacy and comfort of their own home." READ MORE

In an article titled "Suze Orman Is Having a Moment", Susan Dominus writes for Sunday's New York Times Magazine about the recent surge in interest in Orman's advice for consumers about credit card debt, etc. - and, in particular, consumer interest in her “Can I Afford It?” segment on CNBC.

Dominus notes: "Orman has strong opinions in general."

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!

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.

TowerGroup is predicting that US branded total card credit losses will peak at $55.6 billion in 2009 because the recessionary economic conditions are making it difficult for consumers to repay credit card debt. TowerGroup's Brian Riley points out, however, that not all losses are the result of honest inability to pay, warning that intentional cardholder losses from abuse and fraud may cost the industry as much as $10 billion. READ MORE

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.

Credit card delinquencies and chargeoffs breached record levels last month as consumer credit quality deteriorated further in the worsening economic environment according to the latest Fitch Credit Card Index results. Despite the results, portfolio yields increased and excess spread levels remained robust, as remedial actions by credit card issuers are providing investors with a cushion against future losses and early amortization. READ MORE

San Francisc-based GoalSpring has announced a major milestone following the December 2008 alpha launch of DebtGoal.com by passing the $100 million mark of consumer debt enrolled in its service. DebtGoal.com is "an easy-to-use, free online tool helping consumers with debt to create and manage a plan to pay it down." GoalSpring says it was founded out of a desire to break the mold of previous financial services companies that push products rather than help people achieve goals. READ MORE

In tomorrow's Washington Post, V. Dion Haynes reports on today's Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing that "heard debate on a measure that would wipe out credit card debt for people in bankruptcy." According to the article, "the [proposed] bill would apply to companies that raise rates higher than 15 percent plus the current yield on the 30-year Treasury bond. That combined rate currently is 18.5 percent."

The Federal Trade Commission today told the U.S. House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection of the Committee on Energy and Commerce that the FTC will continue protecting consumers from predatory lending and other illegal practices through all stages of the credit life-cycle, from advertising of credit through collection of debt. The FTC also recommended legislative and other remedies to enhance the agency’s effectiveness. The text of the prepared testimony is available online. READ MORE

The US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts held a hearing today on "Abusive Credit Card Practices and Bankruptcy". See this Wall St. Journal story for more coverage of the hearing. A webcast of the hearing is also available (1 hour 45 minutes long).

American Express this afternoon reported February statistics for its US credit card portfolio which showed that the net chargeoff rate grew from 8.1% to 8.6% (managed basic) while the total amount outstanding continued to decline.

In a press release, Fitch Ratings says that "U.S. consumers are falling further behind on their credit card bills as the economy continues to unravel, setting the stage for record default rates going forward. For the second consecutive month, credit card delinquencies breached all-time highs according to the latest Fitch Credit Card Index results. At January month end, the 60 plus day delinquency rate was 4.04%. The results come amid an unending parade of troubling economic data from surging unemployment to steeper declines home and equity market values." READ MORE

In an op-ed titled "Credit Cards Are the Next Credit Crunch" in today's Wall St. Journal, Meredith Whitney raises her concerns about the reductions underway in US consumer credit lines associated with credit cards - and the potential unintended consequences of "taking credit away from people who have the ability to pay their bills."

TransUnion.com has released the results of its analysis of trends in the credit card lending industry for the fourth quarter of 2008. "The report is part of an ongoing series of quarterly consumer lending sector analyses focusing on credit card, auto loan and mortgage data that may be found on TransUnion's Web site. Information for this analysis is culled quarterly from approximately 27 million anonymous, individual credit files, providing a real-life perspective on how U.S. consumers are managing their credit health." READ MORE

The US Federal Reserve has reported its latest G.19 Consumer Credit statistics - finding that "consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 3/4 percent in January 2009. Revolving credit increased at an annual rate of 1-1/4 percent, and nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 1/2 percent."

First Data Corp. has a growing collection of white papers in its Thought Leadership Library covering a wide range of payments-related topics. The latest papers include:

• One-to-One Customer Risk Management by Krista Tedder - Product Owner, Risk Management and Fraud Solutions
• Bill Payment Trends: Major Shifts in Consumer Behavior Require Comprehensive Planning

Mary Pilon writes for the Wall St. Journal about the news that came out over the weekend that American Express has begun offering certain of its credit card customers a $300 American Express Gift Card in exchange for them paying off their outstanding balance by the end of April. A company spokeswoman said that the offer was made to a "small number of cardmembers who have sizeable balances and little spending and payment activity."

Lightspeed Research has announced the results of its latest Lightspeed Research Card Terms Tracking Study finding that US credit card issuers "continued to increase APRs and fees on credit cards through mid-February and are pulling back on rewards programs." This monthly report provides insights into the changes in terms notifications mailed by the top 10 U.S. credit card issuers in the past month. READ MORE

A group of credit card issuers and payments networks (Bank of America, Capital One, Citi and Discover Card along with MasterCard and Visa) have introduced Help With My Credit, a resource to assist and educate consumers struggling to make their credit card payments.

According to a press release issued late Tuesday, "Help With My Credit invites consumers to call a toll-free telephone number (1-866-941-1030) where operators will provide them with information about speaking with customer service representatives within participating credit card issuers or to accredited credit counseling agencies, depending on the individual’s situation and needs."

Consumers can also visit a new Web site, http://www.HelpWithMyCredit.org, which provides consumers information on how to manage credit cards and better communicate with their credit card companies, and how to identify and speak with an accredited credit counselor. READ MORE

Last week, the Federal Reserve released its latest triennial summary of the Survey of Consumer Finances . As Paul Krugman noted in his column in the New York Times this morning, "there has been basically no wealth creation at all since the turn of the millennium: the net worth of the average American household, adjusted for inflation, is lower now than it was in 2001."

Here's how the Fed put it in the introduction to this update of the SCF:

The survey shows that, over the 2004–07 period, the median value of real (inflation-adjusted) family in- come before taxes was little changed; median income had grown slightly in the preceding three-year period.

Noting that the SCF has typically underreported credit card debt, Adam Levitin writes on the Credit Slips blog:

Balances for revolvers grew by somewhere between a quarter and a third in three years. Wow. This bespeaks a rapid leveraging up in credit card debt for a large segement of Americans.

Yesterday, the US Senate Banking Committee held a hearing titled "Modernizing Consumer Protection in the Financial Regulatory System: Strengthening Credit Card Protections". The primary purpose was to discuss The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (“the Credit CARD Act”) re-introduced by Sen. Chris Dodd earlier this week. A video of yesterday's hearing is available online.

In his opening statement, Committee Chairman Sen. Chris Dodd wrote: "For too long, the use of confusing, misleading and predatory practices has been standard operating procedure for many in the credit card industry. The list of troubling practices the credit card companies are engaged in is as lengthy as it is disturbing."

The prepared testimony of six witnesses who participated in yesterday's hearing is available online.

In a New York Times column titled "Up Next for Bankers: A Flogging", Andrew Ross Sorkin writes about the House Financial Services Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday with eight big US bank CEO's. Sorkin provides a list of tough questions he'd like to see the bankers answer - including one (#5) focused on the major credit card issuing banks (JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup) relating to what their expectations are with respect to credit card chargeoffs.

Credit losses on private label credit card portfolios in the US reached 10.51% in January according to a New York Times report by Tara Siegel Bernard. She writes: "While private label cards account for only about 11 percent of all credit card loans outstanding, their troubles offer a window into the deteriorating finances of some of the most distressed Americans."

In an article titled "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Spending", M.P. Dunleavey writes for the New York Times about her struggles to get out of $30,000 in credit card debt.

Ditching debt requires dealing with the emotional underbelly of owing money, and coming to terms with a culture that has serious debt addiction issues. Getting out of debt can feel like a battle — because it is one, on many fronts.

She goes on to note that "carrying credit card debt for months or years is a red flag signaling that you can’t afford your life."

Her advice - figure out how to afford your life on the money you have - with one other piece of advice: "brace yourself" - it's hard!

According to today's G.19 Consumer Credit report issued by the Federal Reserve for December 2008, "consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 3 percent in the fourth quarter. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 5-1/2 percent, and nonrevolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 1-3/4 percent. In December, consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 3 percent."

The Center for American Progress has released a new report titled "Putting Credit Card Debt on Notice - Using electronic reminders to give consumers the right information at the right time" by Tim Westrich, Research Associate for Economic Policy at American Progress.

One simple technological solution could help level the playing field between cardholders and credit card companies and put money back into families’ budgets. Text messages— or a similarly rapid electronic method—could allow a financial institution to transfer information to cardholders at the “teachable moment” when they need it the most.

Citi today has announced the first edition of a new quarterly report on its use of TARP funds. The report, titled "What Citi Is Doing to Expand the Flow of Credit, Support Homeowners and Help the U.S. Economy" includes a section on Citi's credit card business (page 23) - where it says:

"Citi’s primary objective, particularly in this environment, is to fund the expansion of credit to existing card members and target new account originations, based on their ability to repay their loans" and that "in 2009, Citi Cards plans to extend a significant amount of new credit to U.S. consumers, within Citi’s customary sound lending standards."

What's not clear from Citi's TARP report is how these plans relate to Citi's upward adjustment of interest rates on outstanding credit card balances that began in mid-November.

Experian and PredictiveMetrics have announced the launch of PriorityScore for Collections - "a suite of collection scoring models blending Experian's credit reporting agency data with client-supplied data that produces an accurate ranking and predictive forecast of consumer repayment amounts." READ MORE