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Happy New Year? Not for credit card companies Wed Dec 31, 2008 4:19pm EST By Juan Lagorio NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. credit card companies have little to celebrate as many analysts brace for 2009 to be one of the worst years on record for consumer credit. Losses for the industry could top $70 billion, but it is hard to predict how bad the pain will be. U.S. consumers have never before been so deeply in debt. There was nearly $1 trillion of credit and charge card debt outstanding as of October, up more than 25 percent since 2003, according...

January 3, 2009 Credit Card Companies Willing to Deal Over Debt By ERIC DASH Hard times are usually good times for debt collectors, who make their money morning and night with the incessant ring of a phone. But in this recession, perhaps the deepest in decades, the unthinkable is happening: collectors, who usually do the squeezing, are getting squeezed a bit themselves. After helping to foster the explosive growth of consumer debt in recent years, credit card companies are realizing that some hard-pressed Americans will not be able to pay their bills as the economy deteriorates. So lenders and their...

The Debt Trap Unspoken Link Between Credit Cards and Colleges By JONATHAN D. GLATER EAST LANSING, Mich. — When Ryan T. Muneio was tailgating with his parents at a Michigan State football game this fall, he noticed a big tent emblazoned with a Bank of America logo. Inside, bank representatives were offering free T-shirts and other merchandise to those who applied for credit cards and other banking products. “They did a good job,” Mr. Muneio, 21 and a junior at Michigan State, said of the tactic. “It was good advertising.” Bank of America’s relationship with the university extends well beyond...

Target credit -card holders are falling behind on their payments at an alarming rate, sending delinquencies within the retailer's $8.8 billion credit-card portfolio surging by more than 60 percent in the past year. The worsening trend could force Target to limit its exposure to future losses by further tightening the credit terms to qualify for its Visa card. And that could mean a further deceleration of sales at Target, which is struggling to attract shoppers amid soft consumer spending, analysts warned. Target already has tightened its credit underwriting this year as the economy has deteriorated. The Minneapolis-based discount retailer reported...

Credit card rule changes approved by regulator By John Poirier and Karey Wutkowski 1 hr 45 mins ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Rules aimed at preventing credit card holders from being hit by unfair and deceptive practices such as surprise fees and interest rate hikes were approved on Thursday by a U.S. banking regulator. The new regulations are expected to bring some relief to millions of card holders by restricting credit card issuers' ability to raise interest rates and by giving holders a reasonable time to pay their balances. The rules are expected to result in lower revenue for credit card...

Credit-Card Fees Targeted by Retailers Who Say Banks Overcharge

<p>For almost two years, intelligence services around the world tried to uncover the identity of an Internet hacker who had become a key conduit for al-Qaeda. The savvy, English-speaking, presumably young webmaster taunted his pursuers, calling himself Irhabi -- Terrorist -- 007. He hacked into American university computers, propagandized for the Iraq insurgents led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and taught other online jihadists how to wield their computers for the cause.</p>

More customers resume using old-fashioned cash By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO – 1 day ago NEW YORK (AP) — Cash or credit? For more Americans, who have already maxed out their credit cards or are just trying to manage their spending better in the tough economy, the answer is increasingly the old-fashioned one. Retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and J.C. Penney Co. are noticing a marked shift away from credit cards in favor of cash and debit cards. A big factor is less credit available as major card issuers cut spending limits and raise fees even for customers who pay...

Credit crunch for consumers As card issuers hike rates, consumers forced to work harder to protect credit By Andrea Coombes, MarketWatch Last update: 1:36 p.m. EST Nov. 23, 2008 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- As credit-card issuers raise rates and fees and lower credit limits, consumers face higher-cost debt -- and more work maintaining their credit score. In some cases, banks' former darlings -- consumers who paid consistently and on time but let their balances ride -- now are being hit hardest, asked to stomach higher interest rates and fees or try their luck with different card issuers. For instance, some...

Retailers and credit card lenders at odds in crunch Fri Nov 21, 2008 11:18am EST By Alexandria Sage - Analysis SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The need by U.S. retailers' to sell in hard times has put them at odds with the lenders backing their credit cards. While stores aggressively promote use of their cards, lenders are increasingly wary of consumer defaults. That conflict of interest, a direct result of the global credit crunch, could fuel escalated risk in 2009 following a holiday season in which more consumers are offered store credit cards that they may be less likely to repay....

Citigroup is reneging on a promise it made to tens of millions of credit card customers in good times. After pledging that it would no longer reserve the right to raise interest rates at any time for any reason, Citigroup now plans to start raising rates for customers who have not had an increase in at least two years. The move appears to backpedal from a commitment that Citigroup executives made to Congress in early 2007 when they tried to fend off greater regulation by promising not to raise rates until an account expires. Citigroup attributed its decision to the...

Meltdown: The toxic effects of Derivatives By Monty Guild and Tony Danaher A few weeks ago many thought I was out of my mind. I had the temerity to state that I thought that we were going into a depression, not a recession, and that the economic decline would last for two to three years. Now, it looks like a few others are coming around to my view. The chairman of Goldman Sachs recently said we are facing a banking crisis worse than the Great Depression. The former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange said it is comparable to...

American Express Co. which is being hit by slowing consumer spending and rising defaults, is seeking roughly $3.5 billion in taxpayer-funded capital from the federal government, according to people familiar with the situation. The card issuer is the latest company not directly hit by the housing crisis to request cash from the federal government. While retailers, car companies and others hit by the slowdown in consumer spending haven't gotten the government money, financial firms of all kinds are getting federal bailouts. It isn't clear if the application under ...

What’s in your wallet? Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean would like to know. Dean and Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan were speakers at a luncheon at the National Press Club Nov. 5, where both reflected on what went right and wrong with their efforts during the 2008 election cycle. Dean revealed his party used credit card data to predict voting outcomes. However, Democrats and the media have been highly critical of credit card companies that provide that data. ..more (w/video)..

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Further evidence of the economic contraction: American Express -- the largest U.S. credit card company by purchases -- said today it will cut 7,000 jobs and take up to a $290 million charge related to the cuts in a move designed to save $1.8 billion next year. Earlier this year, Amex announced a "re-engineering" plan designed to cut costs as consumers cut back on their credit-fueled spending. The job cuts represent 10 percent of the company's global workforce. The company also has frozen hiring and will cut back on marketing, it said in a statement. “The re-engineering program we announced...

Fox had an interesting story on this morning. Obama's campaign does not have AVS turned on for it's credit card processing on donations (AVS = Address Verification Service). So, in reality, there is no name validation or address verification tied to his donations, and a ton of money is pouring in from Europe and elsewhere. They can just type in anyname they want to, Fox listed some of the names, Adolf Hilter, William Ayers, Yogi Bear, and so on. Basically, the Obama campaign has put the US Presidency on his own EBay and Europe and others are saying "Okay, we...

October 23, 2008 Posted by John at 9:22 PM We noted here and elsewhere the astonishing degree of fraud that has fueled Barack Obama's record fundraising. The ultimate instance of Obama-fraud was achieved by a reader of The Corner: So I went to the Obama website this afternoon and clicked on the "Donate" button. I used my real MasterCard number (but was not asked for the 3 digit security code). Used the following information and it was accepted... First name: Fake Last Name: Donor Address: 1 Dollar To Prove A Point City: Fraudulent State: AL Zip / Post: 33333 Email...

Consumers are increasingly unable to pay off their credit cards, forcing banks to hoard cash to protect against future losses and lend to fewer people, according to reports yesterday from several of the nation's largest banks. These financial disclosures showed a spike in credit card loans going bad, putting further pressure on already-stressed balance sheets. J.P. Morgan Chase said the number of credit card loans in default rose 45 percent in the third quarter from the comparable period a year ago and predicted that default rates would sharply accelerate through 2009, with 7 percent of credit card loans going bad....