| Quote of the Month:
"The Financial Services Roundtable (FSR) recently announced the launch of a pilot program that will unite the nations' 100 largest financial services firms in a joint effort to help victims of identity theft."
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November 2003
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| At Last, Good Economic News |
| Tax cuts, resumption of business investment, and strengthening confidence combined to generate a surge in U.S. economic growth during the third quarter of 2003. Real Gross Domestic Product (adjusted for inflation) surged at a 7.2% annual rate, the biggest quarterly increase since the first quarter of 1984.
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| Setting the Record Straight on the U.S. Economy
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| Amidst the hand wringing over the ballooning budget deficit (with no less than Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan among the most notable critics), the Bush Administration would naturally like to put the best possible spin on its economic record. Your editors received an interesting "fact sheet" recently that reflects those efforts. |
| Bankruptcies Up 7.3% From Last Year
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| The robust economic growth of the third quarter has yet to have much impact on bankruptcy filings. As of the week ending November 1, 2003 (week 44 of this calendar year), total personal bankruptcy filings in the U.S. for this calendar year were up 7.3% compared to the end of the same week in 2002. |
| Recent Changes to a Measure of Household Debt Services |
The October issue of the Federal Reserve Bulletin contains an article with the title shown above that should interest readers involved in consumer and mortgage credit.... The basic premise of the article is that, "when a large share of household income is devoted to debt repayment, households have fewer funds available to purchase goods and services."
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| Rewards Rev Up Affinity Card |
| Recent changes made by Bank One to its AARP affinity card have revved up new account acquisitions. The new AARP Rewards Platinum Visa card introduced in September gives cardholders a 1% rebate on purchases. |
| Wal-Mart Adds Features to Private Label Card |
| Wal-Mart stores has successfully built a private-label card portfolio with 11 million cardholders over the past four years. Now it says it will try to increase usage of the card by adding rewards features to the card this fall for all existing cardholders. |
| Citigroup Completes Purchase of Sears Portfolio |
| The credit card industry newsletter Cardline reports that Citigroup has just completed its acquisition of the $28.6 billion credit card portfolio of Sears, Roebuck and Co. The purchase price was $31.8 billion. |
| Banks Plan to Expand Debit Card Products |
| The 2003 Bank Card Survey Report reveals that commercial banks plan to expand debit card product lines and invest in technology to grow their card operations. |
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| New Identity Theft Clearinghouse |
| The Financial Services Roundtable (FSR) recently announced the launch of a pilot program that will unite the nations' 100 largest financial services firms in a joint effort to help victims of identity theft. |
| New Identity Protection Tool From Fair Isaac |
| In mid October, Fair Isaac Corp announced a new online product called ID Fraud Intercept that should help consumers spot identity theft early on. The new tool is available at www.myfico.com. |
| Experian to Sell Credit Reports to Consumers in Britain and Canada |
| Like the other major U.S. credit repositories, Experian, Inc. has been selling credit reports online to consumers in the United States since 1996.... Now it will try to build a market for similar services in the United Kingdom. |
| Decline in Late Credit Card Payments |
| The American Bankers Association reports that the portion of past due credit card accounts fell slightly from the record high of 4.07 percent in the first quarter of 2003 to 4.04 percent outstanding (both percentages seasonally adjusted). |
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| Bankruptcy Reform |
| Todd J. Zywicki, Federal Trade Commission, has recently published a paper: "Why So Many Bankruptcies and What to Do About It. An Economic Analysis of Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Bankruptcy Reform." At the outset, the author clearly states his purpose: "This article argues that there has been an unacknowledged sea change in the nature of consumer bankruptcy in America." In turn, this change requires a new model of the consumer bankruptcy process and certain amendments to the Bankruptcy Code. |
| IRS Targets "Not-for-Profit" Credit Counselors |
| Some months ago, we wrote about nonprofit credit counseling centers and raised some questions regarding their practices. Now, in her extensive article in the New York Times, Jennifer Bayot reviews the extensive investigations of these organizations by the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Trade Commission and state regulators, who plan to issue an unusual joint advisory that will warn consumers to be wary of the total costs when they seek help from tax-exempt credit counseling organizations. |
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