Entries by Debtmerica

Debt collection firm taking heat for hospital presence

The Minnesota Attorney General's office has filed a lawsuit against debt collection agency Accretive Health for failing to protect hospital patients' confidentiality and not disclosing its full role in hospital care to patients. The lawsuit says that the company put some of its employees in hospital emergency rooms and looked to demand payment of past […]

Women tend to make more credit card debt mistakes

When making efforts to deal with credit card debt responsibly, it seems women might have more difficulties than their male counterparts. Women tend to make a larger number of mistakes when dealing with their credit card balances than men do, including carrying balances from one month to the next and not comparison shopping when seeking […]

Could traditional card use be usurped by mobile payments soon?

The way in which consumers currently deal with credit card debt could soon become a thing of the past. A recent poll of experts found that 65 percent believe mobile wallet technology – in which payments are completed with near-field communications-enabled smartphones – will become so ubiquitous within the next few years that it will […]

College kids struggle to get control of credit card debt

Despite recent laws designed to prevent young adults from running into credit card debt, it seems college students haven't been doing enough on their own to find debt relief. Today, 70 percent of undergrads and 96 percent of graduate students have at least one credit card in their own name, and few know how to […]

Consumer credit card debt expected to increase throughout 2012

Americans have been far more conscientious about their attempts to avoid falling behind on their credit card debt in the past few years, and that trend is expected to continue throughout the year even as balances grow. Consumers' credit quality will likely improve this year, as charged off credit card accounts are expected to drop […]

Consumers continued to slash credit card debt in February

While consumers continue to feel better about their finances and the economy in general, many seem to still be cautious about once again dealing with credit card debt. The amount of money being borrowed on credit cards nationwide slipped once again in February, this time falling to a total of $798.6 billion from January's total […]

Consumers doing a better job making payments on time

The rate at which consumers fell behind on their outstanding credit card debt and other balances slipped in the fourth quarter of last year, as consumers were once again more conscientious in their efforts to reduce debt. Delinquency rates on outstanding balances across eight different loan types slipped to 2.49 percent in the final three […]

Consumers expected to stay current as credit conditions improve

As Americans continue to be more conscientious in their efforts to pay down their outstanding credit card debt and other loan balances, lenders believe they will be in a better position to continue broadening lending standards. Credit risk professionals expect that they will see declines in delinquencies across nearly all loan types in the next […]

Consumers using credit cards more often, but is debt rising?

The economic effects of the recent downturn continue to fade, which is good news to most consumers. But at the same time, rising prices for necessities may be creating more concern for those looking to avoid credit card debt. Unemployment rates have taken a considerable tumble and a number of other improving economic factors have […]

Borrowers scaling back credit card debt as use continues to rise

Americans are still being more cautious about carrying credit card debt from one month to the next, even as they continue to expand their credit card use. Over the last two years, the purchase volume on consumer credit cards issued by the nation's seven largest lenders has expanded 7.6 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively, but […]