Home | Bio | Contact |

Americans Sick Of High Interest Rates Are Paying Off Their Credit Cards

Bookmark and Share

A recent article over at Slate points out that more Americans are paying off their credit cards as interest rates are heading up. This has been eating into the profits of many credit card companies.

This should be a springtime of joy for credit card companies. On Wednesday, President Bush signed the new bankruptcy bill, which they helped to write. Short-term interest rates are on the upswing, which means they can jack up interest rates from, say, 13 percent to 17 percent, without customers asking too many questions. And with employment growing modestly and new unemployment claims down, credit card delinquencies should be on the decline.

But all is not tulips and nectar over at MBNA, the largest independent issuer of credit cards. Yesterday it reported a poor quarter and ratcheted down earnings expectations for the year. Its stock sank to a two-year low. Credit card giant Capital One Financial had a better quarter, but its stock has been slumping lately, too. Bad news for the credit card companies may be better news for us. There are signs at both companies that consumers may be responding to higher rates by doing something almost completely unexpected and practically un-American: paying down credit card debt.

Other Commentary:

Daniel Drezner
By The Way...



This entry is in the following archive(s):

Next and Previous Entries:

Posted by Digger on April 28, 2005 05:41 AM (Permalink)



The Realm Daily Digest
Have Diggers Realm articles emailed to you daily!


Powered by FeedBlitz
See a sample of what a daily email looks like!

Comments


Comments are closed on this article


Also see these other great immigration resources

The Dark Side Of Illegal Immigration
The Dark Side Of Illegal Immigration

A 28 part detailed report on the negative impacts of illegal immigration.
Immigration Stance
Immigration Stance

Find out how your members of Congress voted on immigration issues.

The Dark Side Of Illegal Immigration
Read the free 28 part report The Dark Side of
Illegal Immigration

Includes facts, figures
and statistics.

  ... More Categories




Site Meter

Search Diggers Realm
 
Web Diggers Realm

The Realm Daily Digest
Have Diggers Realm articles emailed to you daily!


Powered by FeedBlitz
See a sample of the email!

ICE Tip Line
1-866-DHS-2-ICE

Capitol Switchboard
1-877-851-6437

Your Representatives
On Immigration
Find out how your members of Congress voted on immigration issues at Immigration Stance.

Get The Latest Immigration News
Illegal Immigration News
The latest all in one place! Bookmark it today!

Knights Of The Realm

Home | Bio | Contact | Sitemap

Copyright © Dan Amato - 1996-Present