Credit card portfolio sales, which dwindled sharply last year as the economy retracted, will remain stagnant for at least another year, one analyst says.

Fair Isaac Corp. said this week that the trend of consumers' defaulting on mortgages while continuing to pay their credit cards has spread to the most creditworthy borrowers.

Citing lower overall expenses, Target Corp. on Tuesday announced improved results for its credit card operations during its fiscal fourth quarter.

Credit card chargeoffs climbed sharply in January, though early-stage delinquencies declined for the third month in a row, Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Monday. William Black, a senior vice president at the rating agency, noted such delinquencies often rise at the start of the year, and this January was the first since 2004 that they fell from the previous month.

Several credit card issuers this month are taking more “positive, promotional” approaches to introducing new policies and billing-statement changes mandated by a federal law that goes into effect today, according to new research by Corporate Insight, a New York-based market-research firm.

Bank of America Corp. said this week that late payments on credit card loans fell to 7.35% in January, the lowest in a year.

Despite the dimming prospects for the creation of an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Elizabeth Warren isn't ready to consider alternatives.

The Federal Reserve Board should use "common sense" when defining "reasonable and proportional" penalty fees under the new credit card law, Pew Charitable Trusts said this week. President Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act last year. The law is taking effect in three phases, the second of which will begin next week.

Texas consumers wrote fewer checks for purchases in 2009 compared with the previous year, reaching instead for their debit or credit cards, according to survey results released by Swacha, a not-for-profit regional payments association.

Consumers continue to place a higher priority on making their credit card payments than their mortgage payments, affirming a trend that began with the recession, according to a new data TransUnion released this week.

Card fraud costs the U.S. payments industry, including issuers, merchants and acquirers, an estimated $8.6 billion per year, according to a report from Aite Group LLC, a Boston-based consulting firm.

Five of the six largest credit card lenders posted declines in U.S. card delinquencies in December, helping the overall rate fall to the lowest level since September, reports Moody's Investors Service.

Despite an industrywide improvement in chargeoffs evident in fourth-quarter results, many credit card executives are wary of declaring an end to the harshest cycle in decades, with several issuers forecasting higher loan losses this quarter and beyond.

American Express Co. reported a 198.3% increase in net income for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 30 compared with a year ago, thanks to improving credit quality among U.S. customers and higher spending both in international regions and on corporate cards.

Major credit card issuers' delinquency rates declined in December, supporting the growing belief that loan losses are near their peak.

SourceMedia Inc., publisher of PaymentsSource, today announced the appointment of Douglas J. Manoni as chief executive officer. He replaces James M. Malkin, who has left the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Card Services unit Friday cited continued weakness in the credit card sector and the effects of the recession as key contributors to a $306 million net loss in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31.

The Federal Reserve Board finalized a rule on Tuesday that is designed to protect consumers from credit card fees and interest rates that jump suddenly.

Financial regulators in Brunei have placed restrictions on how small the amounts credit card issuers can set for monthly repayment of credit card debts, according to a directive from the country’s Ministry of Finance. Cardholder incomes also will determine credit card spending limits, the directive states.

If the banking industry was seeking clarity on the trend in consumer loan delinquencies, it did not receive it in the latest American Bankers Association data.