Credit card defaults fall again in May

By IBTimes Staff Reporter | June 15 2010 1:16 PM

Credit card delinquencies fell again at major lenders in May as more consumers managed to pay their bills despite a sluggish economic recovery.

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Capital One Financial Corp , Discover Financial Services and JPMorgan Chase & Co all said on Tuesday that their 30-day delinquency rates for credit cards fell for the fifth straight month in May, to their lowest levels this year.

Credit card accounts that are at least 30 days past due are an early warning sign of future losses. The improvement in delinquencies exceeded some analyst expectations and indicated that more consumers are staying on top of their bills.

But persistently high unemployment is still dampening hopes for a full recovery from the credit losses of the past two years. Analysts and industry executives say that until U.S. unemployment recedes from the 10 percent level, consumers will continue to struggle to repay all of their debts.

Losses from uncollectable loans have ebbed from last year's peak, but remain high at most U.S. credit card lenders. Losses fell in May at Capital One and JPMorgan Chase, but inched back up at Discover.

Capital One said in a regulatory filing that its annualized net charge-off rate for U.S. credit cards fell to 9.48 percent in May from 9.68 percent in April. Its accounts at least 30 days delinquent declined to 4.80 percent from 5.07 percent.

At Discover, 30-day delinquencies fell to 4.95 percent in May from 5.2 percent in April. But after two months of improvement, Discover's net charge-offs edged back up to 8.82 percent from 8.42 percent.

Accounts that were more than 30 days past due at JPMorgan Chase continued to improve, falling to 4.22 percent in May from 4.4 percent in April. The lender's charge-off rate also fell to 8.95 percent from 9.03 percent.

Shares of JPMorgan were up 1.2 percent at $37.78 in morning trading, while Discover rose 2.2 percent to $13.69, and Capital One gained 2.1 percent to $41.30.

The major U.S. credit card lenders report the performance of their loan portfolios in monthly regulatory filings. Bank of America Corp , Citigroup Inc and American Express Co are expected to report their portfolios' monthly performances later on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Maria Aspan; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)