The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday unveiled a prototype for a simplified credit card agreement, the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at improving financial disclosures.

The trend of U.S. credit cardholders putting credit card payments ahead of mortgage payments that began in early 2008 shows no sign of abating in the immediate future even as the economy gradually improves, a team of TransUnion LLC analysts contends.

Credit cardholders have high satisfaction levels with their most frequently used cards mainly because they never have had problems with them, according to new research from Auriemma Consulting Group.

Consumer use of credit cards online is making a comeback, new research suggests.

Consumer credit card originations rose 32% during the first eight months of this year, though the amount of total new credit issued still lags behind pre-recession levels by a full 45%, recently released data show.

The U.S. is in a balance-sheet slowdown: overleveraged households are tightening their belts and holding back on consumption, thereby choking off the economy's main engine.

Target Corp.’s U.S. credit card segment churned out a $143 million third-quarter profit, up 10% from $130 million a year earlier. But it could be the unit’s last such profitable quarter for a while, an executive for the retailer warned analysts on Wednesday.

Credit card debt fell 11% to $6,600 in October compared to the year-ago period but is up 1% since September, according to Credit Karma’s latest U.S. Credit Score Climate report. Credit scores nationally dropped to 661 in October, down five points from October 2010 and two points from a month ago.

Consumers’ outstanding credit card debt increased during the third quarter, while the proportion of consumers falling behind on their monthly card-account payments rose for the first time in nearly two years, according to a report TransUnion LLC released Tuesday.

Some credit card issuers may be tempted to loosen underwriting standards this holiday season as credit card loss rates hover at record low levels. But such policy shifts could have more far-reaching implications on issuers’ bottom lines than just a few years ago, one analyst warns.

The average consumer credit card charge-off rate among the top U.S. card issuers is nearing a historic low but should begin creeping upward next year, new data Fitch Ratings Inc. released Nov. 9 suggest.

HSBC Holdings PLC sought to assure the markets Nov. 9 that modest troubles collecting from borrowers last quarter have not disrupted the pending sale of its U.S. credit cards to Capital One Financial Corp.

A group of U.S. senators on Wednesday introduced legislation that would allow states to cap credit card interest rates, which they say are riding at “extortion” rates for some consumers.

Consumers are complaining less about the way credit card companies treat them following the 2010 implementation of the Credit Card Accountability, Disclosure and Responsibility Act, new survey data from Consumer Reports suggest.

The nation’s largest credit card issuers in September reported significantly fewer charge-offs than a month earlier, driving the average bankcard charge-off rate to its lowest level since 2007, according to new data Moody’s Investors Service released Wednesday.

Capital One Financial Corp. is looking for another private-label credit card portfolio to buy on the heels of absorbing the U.S. card business of HSBC Bank USA and last year’s acquisition of the Kohl’s Corp. store card portfolio, CEO Richard Fairbank tells analysts.

Citing strong cardholder spending increases across the board, American Express Co. on Oct. 19 said its U.S. Card Services unit produced income of $733 million during the quarter ended Sept. 30, up 23.2% from $595 million a year earlier.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s consumer credit card unit reported net income of $849 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down 8.3% from $926 million a year earlier, as fewer consumers opened new accounts and the percentage of consumers revolving a balance declined.

Despite sluggish economic growth and worrisome unemployment rates, certain indicators as payment card issuers releasing third-quarter results suggest credit and debit card purchase volumes remained relatively healthy through September, according to two new reports from New York-based equity firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Credit card debt rose 1% to $6,513 in September while credit scores nationally dropped four points to 663 during the third quarter ended September 30, according to Credit Karma's latest U.S. Credit Score Climate report.