What You Need to Know About Travel Credit Cards

Issuers are now underwriting more new credit card accounts than at any time since Lehman fell, according to the latest data released by Equifax. The most interesting part of it, though, is that sub-prime originations are the fastest-growing segment. In a way, that shouldn’t be all that surprising, considering that close to half of all Americans are sub-prime borrowers (by Equifax’s definition).

That’s actually a good thing. The risks of sub-prime excesses are now much lower and Americans are much more debt-conscious than at any point in living memory. For example, in August cardholders paid back 21.14% of their outstanding credit card balances, about 30% above the historical average of 16.3%. Moreover, the Federal Reserve tells us every month that credit card debt keeps falling. So the issue banks are now faced with is making consumers use their cards more freely again. It’s won’t be easy and that’s a good thing as well. http://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-issuers-go-after-sub-prime-borrowers-again

Greg of CA 6:24PM October 12, 2011