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 …
Category Archives: Debt Statistics
FRB’s Bank Card and Mortgage Delinquencies Map
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, …
Consumer Borrowing Falls Three Months in a Row
“Consumer credit falls more than expected in Dec.“, reports that as of December 2008, consumers have borrowed less for three months in a row than anytime in the last 17 years. Why? Probably because banks and other lenders have a vapor lock on lending. It’s not that massive numbers of consumers have suddenly seen the …
Canadian Credit Card Bubble
It’s small comfort, but we in the U.S. are not alone in the credit card bubble.
Guiding Financial Principal: Don’t Spend What You Don’t Have
In “Some Chuck Credit Cards to Avoid Late Fees, Debt“, good arguments are made for avoiding the use of credit cards – entirely. Of course, the article also contains all the usual pro-credit card positions related to building a credit history, maintaining a high FICO score, and convenience. And the article offers a few significant …
Consumer Debt, the BIG Picture from the Fed
The Federal Reserve publishes current data on the status of what they call “Consumer Credit”. The BIG picture is not improving. This month’s report states, “Consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 3-1/4 percent in January”. It continues, “revolving credit increased at an annual rate of 7 percent.” The full release is here: Federal …
