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Some 85% of U.S consumers say credit card issuers have not reduced their lines of credit so far during the economic downturn, a survey released today by Bankrate Inc. suggests. In a telephone survey of 1,004 U.S. adults conducted this month, 44% respondents said their credit card lines of credit remain unchanged, while 41% said their credit lines have increased. Six percent of respondents said issuers recently decreased their credit lines. Asked about their future credit card use, 32% of consumers said they plan to charge less on their credit cards in 2009. Some 40% of respondents said they would not be upset if they were denied access altogether to credit cards, while 5% said they would be devastated without use of their credit cards. Some 72% of respondents disagreed with the idea that credit card companies can change the terms of a cardholder's account at any time for any reason, and 71% said they believe credit card companies should be more closely regulated. Some 67% said they strongly disagree that taxpayers should bail out consumers who get into financial difficulties over credit card debt. Forty percent of respondents said the top reason they use credit cards is convenience compared with using cash, while 19% said they use credit cards to finance emergency expenses. GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media conducted the survey for Bankrate between Dec. 5 and Dec. 7.
