Some Card Issuers See Jump in Charge-offs in December, But Not Citi

Three out of five major U.S. credit card issuers saw significant increases in December in their net charge of rates, according to SEC filings. But the average credit card charge-off rate fell compared to November, the direct result of Citibank reporting a huge drop in December.

Bank of America, Discover, and JP Morgan Chase reported increases in their net credit card charge-off rates among their securitized debt trusts. Capital One reported a decrease in their rate. Citi said that its charge-off rate fell to 5.11 percent in December after a 6.36 percent rate the previous month.

Citi’s large movement drove down the average charge-off rate among the five issuers to 4.45 percent from 4.59 percent in November.

The average 30+ day delinquency rate continued to decline in December, reaching a multi-year low of 3.05 percent in the last month of 2011.