Banks Brace of Billions in Credit Card Losses
Predicting how many Americans will have problems in paying their credit card bills used to be easy. The banks simply look at the unemployment rate to gauge the level of risk they need to face in the near future. This isn’t accurate anymore. Previously, job loss meant inability to pay. Nowadays, losses are outpacing the unemployment rate.
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Traditionally, the defaults on credit card debts rise or fall with the unemployment rate. With the unemployment now at 8.5 percent, the highest in more than two decades, credit card companies are suffering from a surge in defaults. Bank of America, for example, has $182 billion in credit card loans as of December 31, 2008. From this figure, the bank had to write off $11.4 worth of balances.
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