Interested in credit card news and analysis?

• The Accounts Receivable Student Market for Credit Cards: Issues & Trends
• Seven Factors Influencing the Credit Card Accounts Receivable Market
• Top Two Successful Credit Card Collection Strategies

News Headlines

• Credit Card Debt Falls for 20th Consecutive Month, Down 10.5% in May 7/9/10
• First Quarter Credit Card Charge-offs Increase, Delinquencies Decline: Fed 6/8/10
• No Turnaround in Sight: Credit Card Debt Falls 12 percent in April 6/8/10
• B of A Leading Major Card Issuers in Delinquencies and Charge-Offs in April 5/21/10
• Debt Buyers Experiencing Bumpy Ride on Prices 5/20/10
• $123 billion in 19 Months: Credit Card Debt's Amazing Plummet 5/11/10
• Federal Regulatory Reform Hits ARM Industry on Three Fronts 5/10/10
• Credit Card Debt Plummets in February After a Revised Gain in January 4/8/10
• Credit Card Late Payments Drop in Q4 Along with Other Loans 4/7/10
• CARD Act Could Negatively Impact Creditworthy Consumers’ Credit Scores 3/12/10
• Former Chase Exec Makes Debt Sales Allegations in Lawsuit 3/10/10
• Exploring Rising Complaints Against Debt Collectors 3/5/10
• Experts Say New Credit Card Rules will Significantly Impact ARM Industry 3/3/10
• Numbers from the ARM Industry’s First Virtual Trade Show 2/26/10
• Credit Card ARM Inventory to Remain Strong as Charge Offs Spike 2/24/10
• State Attorney General Goes After Capital One for Debt Collection and Re-Aging 1/25/10
• Movement Underway to Shift Money from Large Banks to Community Banks 1/13/10
• U.S. Consumer Credit Declines at Record Pace in November 1/11/10
• Early Developments Could Keep Debt Markets Depressed in 2010 1/5/10
• Consumer Credit Contraction to Impact ARM Industry Over Time 12/11/09
• Another Big Loss for Consumer Credit Card Debt in September 11/9/09
• Banks Charging Off Debt at a Higher Rate than in Great Depression 10/28/09
• Government Report Recommends Significant Changes to FDCPA 10/22/09
• CFPA Debated in Committee this Week; Experts Weigh In on ARM Impact 10/21/09
• Credit Card Debt Evaporating in U.S.; Down 13 percent in August 10/8/09
• Barney Frank Moves to Push Credit Card Rules on Banks Early 10/7/09
• Chargeoffs a Key Driver in Declining Credit Card Balances 9/23/09
• Consumer Credit Contracts at Record Pace in July 9/9/09
• Consumer Credit Balances Shifting to Lower Quality Brackets 9/4/09
• Credit Card Chargeoffs and Delinquencies Contracting Over Summer 8/26/09
• Credit Card Business Model Tested in Current Downturn 7/15/09
• Card Chargeoffs Accelerate, Break 10 Percent Barrier in May 7/2/09
• U.S. Consumer Credit Plummets in April; Credit Cards Fall 11 percent 6/8/09
• Credit Card Companies Get a Lift After Legislation Passes 6/3/09
• Credit Card Bill Impact on ARM Industry Uncertain 5/27/09
• ARM Companies Tell Different Tales in First Quarter Confidence Survey 5/20/09
• Congress Looks to Supplant Fed with Credit Card Bill Push 4/29/09
• Credit Card Chargeoffs Continue to Rise; 10% Rates May be Seen in 2009 4/22/09
• Credit Card Debt Shrinks at Fastest Rate in 30 Years in February 4/8/09
• Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Gets New Life in New Congress 3/25/09
• Consumer Credit Gains in January Led by Cards 3/9/09
• Consumer Credit Performance Continues to Weaken As Card Chargeoffs Soar 3/4/09
• U.S. Consumer Credit Falls Again in December; November Revised Lower 2/9/09
• CompuCredit and its Collection Agency Settle FTC-FDIC Case for $114 million 12/22/08
• Regulators Approve New Credit Card Rules 12/18/08
• Capital One Card Charge-Offs Hit Nearly 7 Percent in November 12/16/08
• Chevy Chase Bank Deal Advances Capital One Diversification Strategy 12/15/08
• Consumer Credit Drops $3.5 billion in October 12/8/08
• Government to Spend $200 billion to Unclog Consumer Lending Market 11/26/08
• Collection Agencies Shifting Strategies in Rough Economy: Survey 11/19/08

Analysis Headlines

• Creditors Are Shifting Strategy: Soon, Less will be More
  As a result of economic pressures, a shift in creditor strategy is taking place in the industry. This change in approach has the potential to reshape many collection agencies in the coming years -- in ways that are not at all obvious today.
• Over $33 Billion in U.S. Consumer Credit at Risk of Default
  Poor economic conditions are dramatically increasing the amount of outstanding consumer credit that is at risk of default. The immediate measures that credit issuers are taking now to mitigate this risk will have long-term ramifications for their ARM service providers - especially in the bank card/credit card sector.
• Getting Current on Pricing in the U.S. Credit Card Debt Purchasing Market
  Kaulkin Ginsberg has been tracking the changes in credit card portfolio prices and liquidation performance over the past year. Based on these trends, we have made some predictions for where prices will be heading in 2009.
• Survival Tips to Weather the Economy for Bankcard/Credit Card Agencies
  The economy has been especially hard on agencies focused on the bank card/credit card arena, and predictions persist that unemployment could further dampen recovery efforts this year. Here are a few thoughts to consider for positioning your firm to survive -- and even grow -- during this turbulent time.
• Data Causing Concern for Credit Card Market
  
• ARM Companies Under Pressure as Q2 Ends with Persistent Consumer Pessimism
  
• Market Report: Seven Factors Influencing the Credit Card Market
  
• Credit Card Delinquencies Drop As Charge-Offs Continue to Rise
  
• Financial Services Creditor Survey Underscores Anxiety about Current Economic Conditions
  
• Credit Card Spending Growth Continues Unabated As Do Charge-Offs and Delinquencies
  Consumers will rely more on credit and have less cash to pay down debt as energy and food prices rise, impacting collections for both creditors and the accounts receivable management industry.
• Spending Anxiety Pressures American Households
  
• Card Charge Offs Latest Sign of Rising Consumer Debt
  Prices and unemployment are up, and the big credit card issuers have been reporting rising charge offs as well. This spring, the economic negatives have far outweighed the positives.
• Getting Current on Pricing in the U.S. Credit Card Debt Purchasing Market
  The price of fresh paper has declined from 10 percent to 30 percent compared with last year while secondary paper has seen even larger price drops as credit card issuers watch their cardholders struggle to pay their bills.
• Skittish Consumers Threaten the ARM Industry
  Consumers and their skittish outlook on spending, and especially repayments, will begin to impact recovery rates on the collection agency level this year.
• S&P Casts Wary Eye on Credit Card ABS in 2008
  Card Asset Backed Securities had a strong 2007 in contrast to similar products that held subprime mortgage obligations. This year isn’t looking as good, reports Standard & Poor’s, but the card ABS market remains solid.
• A Growing Movement of PCI Compliance
  
• Sector-Specific Trends Impacting Credit Card ARM: Telecom
  Many credit sectors in the US are experiencing some special issues relating to accounts receivable. insideARM.com is exploring the impact these issues may have on the broadest ARM segment: credit cards.
• The Evolution of Smart Card Technology
  
• Sector-Specific Trends Impacting Credit Card ARM: Mortgage
  Many credit sectors in the US are experiencing some special issues relating to accounts receivable. insideARM.com is exploring the impact these issues may have on the broadest ARM segment: credit cards.
• Pricing in the U.S. Credit Card Market
  Pricing is a hot topic in debt purchasing right now. So what do industry players think about current prices?
• Profit-based Credit Marketing
  The profitability of a credit portfolio can often be predicted by grouping customers based on risk. So how do you effectively market your credit products to different customer groups?
• Making Applications Processes Customer Friendly – Part 3
  

  With today’s technology options, applications processes can be enhanced at almost every stage. Effective planning can lead to improvements in client service, dramatic reductions in turn around time, reduced costs and reports that allow the process to be monitored and improved over time.

• Making Applications Processes Customer Friendly - Part 2
  Asset-based products have the worst reputation for confusing application processes. This series of tips will explain how you can make your asset based applications processes less onerous for you and your customers.
• Making Applications Processes Customer Friendly – Part 1
  Most customers find applying for credit difficult and confusing. Institutions get accused of asking for too much information for a ‘simple answer’ and often application forms are full of ambiguous and seemingly unnecessary information

Research Headlines

• Kaulkin Report 7 Excerpt - The Credit Card Industry: A Farewell to Cash 
• Global Debt Buying Report - Accounting in the U.S. Credit Card Market 
• Global Debt Buying Report - Globalization in the U.S. Credit Card Market 
• Global Debt Buying Report - Resales in the U.S. Credit Card Market 
• Global Debt Buying Report - Pricing in the U.S. Credit Card Market 
• Global Debt Buying Report - Volume in the U.S. Credit Card Market 
• Global Debt Buying Report - Expected Returns in the U.S. Credit Card Market 
• Global Debt Buying Report - Portfolio Sizes in the U.S. Credit Card Market 
• Kaulkin Report 6th Edition - The Credit Economy 

Press Releases

• insideARM.com Appoints Forward Thinking Editorial Board 7/28/10
• China’s Top Credit Card Issuer Chooses Collection Management Tool from ALI Solutions 7/22/10
• S&P/Experian Index Confirms Declining Trend of Default Rates 7/21/10
• Kaulkin Media Appoints Stephanie Eidelman President to Drive Change 7/8/10
• Bank Card Delinquencies Fall to Lowest Level in Eight Years: ABA 7/7/10
• Fitch: Delinquencies Hit 17-Month Low for U.S. Credit Card ABS 7/1/10
• MBNA Release Credit Card To Help Beat Negative Order Of Payment 6/27/10
• Executive Change: Joseph Cowan Named President and CEO of Online Resources 6/15/10
• Citi Sells Canadian MasterCard Business 6/15/10
• Central Credit Services Achieves PCI DSS Compliance 6/9/10
• At FTC’s Request, Court Stops Deceptive Telemarketing Calls Pitching Credit Card Interest Rate Reduction 5/21/10
• Consumer Credit Defaults in Autos and Mortgages Drop; Defaults in Bank Cards Accelerate 5/19/10
• Credit Card Delinquency Rates Fall in First Quarter: TransUnion 5/17/10
• Experian Ranks Top 20 Major U.S. Metropolitan Areas by Average Debt Per Consumer 5/14/10
• S&P and Experian Team Up to Launch Consumer Credit Default Indices 5/4/10
• Fitch: U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies Fall to Six-Month Lows 5/3/10
• Executive Change: Charge Card Systems Adds ARM Industry Veteran Mike Martell 4/30/10
• TSYS Signs Agreement with Alaska Option 4/29/10
• Veda Advantage: Australian Consumer Credit Demand Down, Mortgages Down 15% 4/28/10
• Payment Data Systems Closes 2009 with Positive Changes 4/15/10
• New Adeptra Analytics to Enable Banks and Card Issuers to Link Data 4/8/10
• Former Discover Card Veteran Leads Innovative ARM Consulting Firm 4/5/10
• PCI Compliance and Data Security Requires Private Key Management 4/1/10
• Credit Card Pitchman Permanently Banned from Telemarketing 3/30/10
• Dave & Buster's Settles FTC Charges it Failed to Protect Consumers' Information 3/26/10
• Discover Financial Services Announces Actions to Further Enhance Loan Loss Reserve 3/12/10
• Credit Counseling Services See Annual Credit Card Fees Returning With the New Credit Card Act in Place 3/8/10
• Consumer Credit Scores Drop in January 2010 2/18/10
• Firstsource Signs Three-Year Deal With Unirush LLC 2/16/10
• Average Credit Card Debt Drops to $3,752 Per Adult, $7,394 Per Household 2/11/10
• Credit Card Offers Make a Comeback to US Households: Synovate Mail Monitor 2/11/10
• Adeptra Reflects On 2010 Demand for True Multi-Channel Communications 2/9/10
• Oliphant Acquires Assets of Performance Capital Management 2/9/10
• Canadian Financial Company Intoduces A Balance Transfer Credit Card Program 2/4/10
• TransUnion Study Finds More Consumers Making Payments on Their Credit Cards Before Their Mortgages 2/3/10
• Veda Advantage Credit Demand Index - October to December 2009 2/2/10
• TransUnion Only Credit Bureau to Provide Multiple Income Models to Help Financial Services Firms Meet New Requirements of Credit CARD Act 1/28/10
• Credit Card Statements Will have A New Look in February, NFCC Works with Lenders 1/27/10
• East Capital Explorer, East Capital Financials Fund and Intrum Justitia Jointly Invest in Russian Non-Performing Consumer Loan Portfolios 1/25/10
• Consumers Cutting Credit Card Usage and Debt on Eve of Reform, First Command Reports 1/22/10
• Consumer Credit Card Debt Increases by Double Digits in Nearly Every Region in Second Half of 2009 1/13/10
• Consumers to Benefit from Fed’s Sweeping New Credit Card Rules 1/13/10
• First Annual FICO Decision Management Awards Presented to Bank of Communications, Highmark and Lloyds Banking Group 1/8/10
• RMS Recertified for 3rd Year with both VISA and MASTERCARD for PCI Compliance 12/18/09
• Discover Reports Decline in Earnings, Increase in Charge-Offs for Q4 12/18/09
• Peregrin Services(TM) Announces Multiple Service Options for Its CARD Act Credit Counseling Line 12/16/09
• Settlement Reached with Bank of America in Case Accusing Credit Card Companies of Colluding on Arbitration Terms 12/16/09
• Consumers Rank Credit Card Bills Higher Priority Than Mortgage, Says Auriemma Consulting Group 12/10/09
• TransUnion: Improved Mortgage and Credit Card Delinquencies Expected by End of 2010 12/9/09
• FTC Sues to Stop Robocalls With Deceptive Credit Card Interest-Rate Reduction Claims 12/9/09