Total outstanding balances on auto and credit card loans increased year-over-year in August and bank-issued credit cards increased in two consecutive months for the first time in five years, according to Equifax's latest National Consumer Credit Trends Report.

Consumer advocates pressed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday to crack down harder on credit card issuers despite recent regulations that largely curtailed hidden fees and predatory practices.

WASHINGTON — Banks and other credit card issuers are charging less in penalties and doing a better job of disclosing previously hidden fees, according to a report due out Wednesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Massachusetts is conducting an independent investigation of JPMorgan Chase's debt collection practices, a source told The Wall Street Journal.

In an agreement hailed by consumer advocates, the nation's largest bank by assets consented to a major overhaul of its debt collection and debt sale practices. The deal appears likely to become part of the blueprint for reform of an often-criticized industry.

Just hours after agreeing to pay $910 million in regulatory fines related to the London Whale trading scandal, JPMorgan Chase agreed Thursday to repay $309 million in restitution to customers harmed by its credit card practices as well as face an additional $80 million more in civil money penalties.

JPMorgan Chase will pay $920 million in regulatory fines related to its London Whale trading scandal, adding to the $6 billion in losses the bank already took as a result of the trades. Separately, the bank received a cease and desist order related to its credit card collection litigation.

An analysis of bankcard trends from the second quarter ended June 30 showed a 21% year-over-year increase in bankcard origination volumes, equating to a $12 billion increase in new bankcard limits issued.

Card issuing banks need to become more creative in how they market and establish various features, or else a growing consumer trend toward debit cards will get even stronger, a new study suggests.

Capital One Financial Corp. reported delinquencies rose in August compared with July for both its U.S. and international credit card operations.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. may settle regulators’ probes into the bank’s credit-card debt collection practices and sales of identity-theft products as early as next week, said two people with knowledge of the matter.

Citi has completed its purchase of electronics retail giant Best Buy's U.S. credit card portfolio from Capital One.

Seven card-issuing banks can sue Heartland Payment Systems Inc. for negligence stemming from the processor’s 2008 data breach, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week.

Lawyers for clothing retailer Genesco Inc. last week requested summary judgment on its request to dismiss $10,000 in data breach fines from Visa Inc.

Alliance Data Systems Corp. reported that net chargeoffs on its private-label credit cards fell slightly in July while delinquencies edged up from a year earlier.

Overall consumer credit in the U.S. jumped $13.8 billion in June even as revolving debt, primarily credit card spending, fell by $2.7 billion. That drop followed a $6.4 billion jump a month earlier, the largest of the year, according to Federal Reserve figures.

Wells Fargo & Co. will tie up with American Express Co., the world’s biggest credit card issuer by purchases, to offer cards accepted on American Express’s network of merchants.

MasterCard Inc. reported profit that beat analysts’ estimates as spending on credit and debit cards rose. Shares gained in early trading.

The Federal Trade Commission has charged an operation that sells credit and debit card payment processing services to small businesses with violating federal law.

Consumers with the ability to pay larger amounts than the minimum payment due on their credit cards had much lower delinquency rates on not only their cards, but also their auto loans and mortgages, according to a new TransUnion study.