LOS ANGELES—U.S. credit card users are getting better about making more timely payments, even as banks are increasingly issuing cards to borrowers with less-than-stellar credit.

The rate of payments at least 90 days overdue dipped in the first three months of the year to 0.73 percent, credit reporting agency TransUnion said Thursday.

That’s down from 0.78 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 and 0.74 percent in the first quarter of last year.

While the rate increased in the second half of last year, the broader trend has seen delinquency rates decline steadily since the last recession started toward the end of 2007, said Charlie Wise, TransUnion’s director of research and consulting.

“We are now seeing that, when given a choice, consumers are overwhelmingly paying their bankcards before they’re paying their mortgages,” Wise said.

Between 1999 and 2007, the average quarterly credit card delinquency rate was 1.30 percent, said TransUnion, which culled data from a random sampling of about 27 million credit reports.

While late payments are down, cardholders have been racking up more debt.

On average, borrowers had $ 4,962 in credit card debt in the January-to-March period. That’s down 4.7 percent from the previous quarter, as cardholders paid off purchases charged during the holiday season. But card balance…………… continues on Boston Globe

Is someone’s age going to stop them from getting a top-notch credit score? Will whether you’re married, divorced or single be figured into the calculation of a credit score? Does race influence the score?

Far too many consumers give the wrong answer and say ‘Yes’ to those questions. Many incorrectly believe that a person’s age, marital status or ethnicity can boost or ding a credit score, according to a survey of consumer knowledge of credit scores.

Why’s that a problem?

“These consumers may well think it’s not worth the effort to improve their credit scores,” said Stephen Brobeck, the executive director of the Consumer Federation of America.

He may have a point. If you think factors beyond your control heavily influence credit scores, you may not be as diligent about paying bills on time.

A second annual survey of credit score knowledge was released this week by the Consumer Federation of America and VantageScore Solutions, whose credit-scoring model was created by America’s three reporting agencies.

In spite of gaining more knowledge in some areas, consumers still don’t completely understand credit scores. The survey showed:

• More than half think a person’s age and marital status are used to calculate credit scores.

Beep, wrong answer.

When it comes to age, though, the age of an account may influence a s…………… continues on Detroit Free Press

U.S. credit card users are getting better about making more timely payments, even as banks are increasingly issuing cards to borrowers with less-than-stellar credit.

The rate of payments at least 90 days overdue dipped in the first three months of the year to 0.73 percent, credit reporting agency TransUnion said Thursday.

That’s down from 0.78 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 and 0.74 percent in the first quarter of last year.

While the rate increased in the second half of last year, the broader trend has seen delinquency rates decline steadily since the last recession started toward the end of 2007, said Charlie Wise, TransUnion’s director of research and consulting.

“We are now seeing that, when given a choice, consumers are overwhelmingly paying their bankcards before they’re paying their mortgages,” Wise said.

Between 1999 and 2007, the average quarterly credit card delinquency rate was 1.30 percent, said TransUnion, which culled data from a random sampling of about 27 million credit reports.

While late payments are down, cardholders have been racking up more debt.

On average, borrowers had $ 4,962 in credit card debt in the January-to-March period. That’s down 4.7 percent from the previous quarter, as cardholders paid off purchases charged during the holiday season. But card balances grew 6.1 p…………… continues on ABC News

By ALEX VEIGA

The three newest consumer credit cards — two from Bank of America, one from JPMorgan Chase — reflect consumer exasperation with some of the current card “features” that may not look so good to savvy travelers. All three have some advantages that many will appreciate, but none yet provides a comprehensive travel feature set.

For most of you, the new Bank of America offerings are probably the more interesting:

– The Bank of America Travel Rewards card (and a similar card for business) offers 1.5 points, with an equivalent 1.5 cent cash value, for every $ 1 charged to the card. That’s more than you get with most cards, which tend to cluster around 1 cent per dollar. The card carries no annual fee.

– The BankAmericard Privileges credit card with Travel Rewards offers two points per dollar charged. This card carries an annual fee of $ 7, waived for BofA customers who do lots of other business with the bank.

Both cards offer no-surcharge on foreign transactions, a f…………… continues on Chicago Tribune

Despite concerns over a slowing economy, Indians are lavishly spending through credit cards. Credit card spending by Indians rose 28% to Rs. 96,000 crore in 2011-12 from Rs. 75,000 crore in the previous fiscal year, the highest in four years. Matching the trend, spending through debit cards (or ATM

cards) also grew by 38% to Rs. 53,000 crore in the last fiscal, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data.

“The continuous rise in point of sale (PoS) terminals in the country combined with the increased use of online payment is encouraging consumers to go for plastic money,” said Shyamal Saxena, general manager, retail banking products, consumer banking, India and South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank.

“Increased credit card spending also reflects high level of confidence among consumers.”

Banks are also encouraging customers to use credit cards by offering rewards points, which fetch discounts for customers on the next shopping, on every purchase through cards.

However, banks have become more cautious in issuing credit cards to customers. The number of credit cards issued declined to 17.7 million in 2011-12 from 18 million in 2010-11. “Banks are now selective in issuing cards to new customers,” said Saxena.

ATM cards have witnessed a healthy increase…………… continues on Hindustan Times

Thinking of buying a new home anytime soon? You better know your score — your credit score, that is.

Now, more than ever, that three-digit number affects what you’ll pay to finance your home purchase. The higher your score, the lower the mortgage rate — and monthly payment — you’ll pay.

For example, at today’s rates, if you have a credit score of at least 760 and qualify for a mortgage of 3.5 percent, you’ll pay about $ 1,340 per month on a $ 300,000 loan. The same borrower with a credit score of 620 to 639 would pay a rate of around 5 percent, or more than $ 1,600 per month, according to credit-scoring company Fair Isaac.

With the tighter loan criteria lenders have put in place in the past several years, you could end up paying a higher interest rate, even if your credit score is only a few points below a particular threshold.

But if you’re like most people, you don’t know your credit score. Some people orde…………… continues on Salt Lake Tribune

Although fraud involving credit cards, debit cards and ATM cards continues to be a major problem for the financial services industry, card holders are largely protected from liability for such fraud.

For credit cards, the applicable statute is the Truth In Lending Act. This law limits a credit card holder’s liability for unauthorized charges to $ 50. And to collect this $ 50, a credit card issuer must satisfy several requirements that make it more trouble than it’s worth. So most credit card issuers don’t bother to try.

For debit cards and ATM cards, the applicable statute is the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. Here the rules are a bit more favorable to card issuers. Under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, unlike the Truth In Lending Act, it’s legally important to promptly report a lost or stolen card. That’s because, in order to obtain the maximum protection against liability for unauthorized use — again a $ 50 loss limitation — a lost or stolen card must be reported to the card issuer within two business days following discovery. If that deadline is missed, the limit goes up to $ 500.

If unauthorized use is not reported within 60 days after it first appears on a statement, the card holder can be liable for all subsequent unauthorized use.

Regardless of these statutory protections, a lost or stolen card should, of course, always be promptly repor…………… continues on Colorado Springs Gazette

Watching your child become more financially independent is both exciting and rewarding.

Building a good credit history is an important part of this process; it will help your teen get approved for loans, car insurance and apartment rental applications, and it also can negatively or positively impact his chances of getting hired for a job.

It’s important that you help your teen understand the ins and outs of credit card use.

In most situations, one credit card and possibly one debit card should be sufficient until he becomes more responsible. As he matures, perhaps later in college or after graduation, he can consider a second credit card as long as he’s been responsible in keeping up with the first one.

Some tips that can help your teen build good credit with just one credit card:

Become an authorized user. As a result of the Credit Card Act, people under 21 years of age must have a co-signer or prove that they are financially independent in order to get approved for a credit card in their name. Instead of waiting, consider adding your teen to your account as an authorized user when he’s around 18. That way, you can monitor his spending habits and intervene if necessary.

Make small purchases and…………… continues on kjrh.com