More lenders granting new credit cards

Consumers who worked diligently to reduce debt during the recession could now be on a more sound financial footing and interested in obtaining a new credit card. Fortunately for them, many financial institutions are increasing their lending for new accounts.

The value of new credit card accounts being issued by lenders rose by more than 35 percent on a year-over-year basis in March, according to the latest monthly statistics from Atlanta-based credit monitoring firm Equifax. This increase is due both to the number of new accounts being issued and the value of those accounts, as competition between banks for new borrowers has prompted most to increase the lines of credit on these accounts.

In addition, financial institutions are also slackening requirements for other lines of credit and therefore increasing the amount they lend across all products, the report said. Overall, the amount consumers borrowed during the monthly rose more than 15 percent over March 2009 to $167 billion.

However, consumers who worked diligently to avoid credit card debt during the recession may have changed their spending habits, and may only want to use a new credit card account sparingly.