Credit Card Defaults Rose in April
They rose to record highs. And banks like Citigroup, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Discover Financial Services are trying to figure out what to do. They’re raising rates, lowering limits, closing accounts and hiring psychologists to teach debt collectors how to persuade card holders to pay down their balance.
CNBC.com has the article: “Credit Card Defaults Reach Record Highs in April“
Banks are Hurt by Credit Cards
The New York Times has this story: “Rising Credit Card Losses Are Next Challenge for Banks“.
Eric Dash and Andrew Martin do a good job of explaining the extent of trouble banks are having and are going to have with credit cards. “Even the government’s grim projections may vastly understate the size of the credit card troubles in store for major U.S. banks.”
FRB’s Bank Card and Mortgage Delinquencies Map
Filed under: Banking Industry, Credit Card Industry, Debt Statistics
This is a cool tool!
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York offers dynamic maps of bank card and mortgage delinquencies in the United States. It’s one of the coolest tools I’ve seen in a while.
The Credit Condition Map is actually fun to play with. The irony is that while you play with it, you’ll see some sad stats. The map offers two types of delinquency data: bank card delinquency rate of 60 or more days and mortgage delinquency rates of 90 or more days.
A Return to Traditional Banking Business
Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, was interviewed by the Financial Times about his take on 2009. In “JPMorgan chief says 2009 will be bleak“, Mr. Dimon says, “we expect consumer loans and credit cards to continue to get worse.”
Mr. Dimon suggests the bursting of the credit bubble will change the banking industry by forcing a return to the traditional banking business of advising and lending.
I wonder, though. Isn’t the advice and lending behavior of banks part of what got us into this? It sounds like more of the same.
