JPMorgan credit card accounts drive profits

JPMorgan Chase enjoyed a profit of $4.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010 behind better performance for its credit card debt division, the company recently announced. This marked an increase of 47 percent over the same quarter in the previous year.

In addition, consumers seemed less wary of taking on credit card debt than they were last year, the report said. In the entire 2010 calendar year, the company saw Americans open 11.3 million new accounts and fourth-quarter sales volumes crept up 9 percent.

"We provided credit to and raised capital for our clients of more than $1.4 trillion during the year," said JPMorgan chief executive officer Jamie Dimon. "These efforts included more than $10 billion of credit provided to over 250,000 small businesses in the U.S. in support of our communities, an increase of more than 50 percent over 2009."

Consumers nationwide have been able to pay down their credit card debt more frequently this year, allowing lenders to avoid lost revenue due to charge offs.