Analytics

IMGCAP(1)]

IMGCAP(1)]

IMGCAP(1)]

Fifth Third Bancorp said Wednesday it expects charge-offs to continue to rise through 2009, which will in turn force the bank to set aside more cash to cover the losses.

Capital One Financial Corp. reported an increase in its May net chargeoff rate, with the annualized chargeoff rate for the company's $67.9 billion credit card portfolio rising 20 basis points to 6.28%, up from 6.08% in April.

United States-based auction Web site owner eBay Inc. Monday postponed a mandate scheduled to begin today that would allow only PayPal, eBay's payment service, as an online-payment option on the company's Australian Web site (CardLine Global, 16/6). In a statement, eBay says it will continue to challenge the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's decision last week to delay the mandate while the commission investigates whether it is anticompetitive. EBay says it is "disappointed that the [commission's] current view delays the opportunity to provide consumers a more-secure way to shop on eBay.com.au with confidence." EBay intends to work with the commission and hopes to achieve an outcome "which has the safety and security of eBay's members as its paramount objective," the company says in a statement. EBay says it will delay the removal of other payment methods from the site until 15 July. The company declined further comment when contacted by CardLine Global.

Rising medical bills and other debts have prompted elderly Americans to seek bankruptcy court protection at sharply faster rates than other adults, according to research released Tuesday by the Consumer Bankruptcy Project.

In search of every possible way to trim costs, U.S.-based companies long have sought to cut one of their biggest expenses – payroll – by tapping into markets where labor rates are lower than those back at home. But while hiring offshore outsourcers once was associated with compromising on quality, developing countries are going to great lengths to eliminate this reputation. Today, destinations such as India, the Philippines and Central and Latin America offer call center talent that is up to speed with what it takes to do business in the United States.

Wyoming Medical Center plans to administer an easier application process for charity care patients, according to Nancy Brandt, chief financial officer. Of about $30 million in uncompensated care provided by the Casper, Wyo.-based health care group each fiscal year, about 20% is from charity care patients and 80% is from "bad debt" patients.

U.S. home foreclosures jumped in May to 261,255, a 48% increase from May 2007, according to RealtyTrac's latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which measures default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. Last month's total is up 7% from April.

The doom and gloom data arrive in higgledy-piggledy fashion on a daily basis, and it can be difficult for lenders – particularly in the housing market – and their credit risk managers to wrap their heads around all of it.

A Kansas City, Mo., law firm has filed a class-action lawsuit against a health care company, alleging that it used an in-house collection department to contact patients about their medical bills, but misrepresented itself as a third party unrelated to the company, in violation of two sections of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

CompuCredit Corp., the Atlanta-based subprime credit card issuer that was sued yesterday by the Federal Trade Commission and faces charges by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, issued a pointed response to the allegations by the federal agencies.

With health insurance moving toward greater patient cost sharing, a study by private foundation Commonwealth Fund finds a sharp increase in the number of underinsured people, a group that, logically, also has greater problems with their medical bills.

White Plains, N.Y.-based Debt Resolve Inc., which hosts an online bidding system to resolve debts, has received proof of funds from Harmonie International LLC, and granted Harmonie an extension to June 20 to fulfill its commitment to invest $7 million in the company.

Softening of consumer lending demand has persisted over the past eight weeks and delinquencies on consumer loans has increased in some areas, according to the Beige Book, the Federal Reserve Board's summary of economic activity reports from all 12 central bank districts, which was released Wednesday.

Australian receivables manager Collection House Ltd. has executed a new forward flow agreement with a major Australian bank. The agreement, which covers the acquisition of credit card debts, runs for 12 months and has an estimated face value of AUD $50 million (U.S. $47.4 million).

Anticipating that Discover Financial Services will report very little change in charge-offs and delinquency rates for its credit card loan book during May, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Christopher Brendler on Wednesday suggested that the economic stimulus checks will have a scant impact on cardholder payments.

Expressing dissatisfaction with their outsourced collection service vendors, a town in Pennsylvania and another in West Virginia recently moved to fire their agencies.

The New York State Assembly this week approved a package of four bills that are intended to protect state residents from abusive debt collection practices. Each of the bills was sponsored by member Audrey Pheffer, who began studying the industry's practices and consumer complaints two years ago.