Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) led five of the six largest credit card issuers in reporting that late payments from customers have fallen during the month of February, indicating that record industry losses may be nearing an end, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Bank of America, the largest U.S. bank in terms of assets, said that payments at least 30 days overdue dropped to 7.23%, down from 7.35% during the month of January. JP Morgan Chase said that their late payment rate declined to 4.67%, down from 4.75% in January.
Citibank was the only credit card issuer to post an increase in their late payment rates, increasing from 5.75% in January up to 5.94% during the month of February.
Capital One and Discover Financial also saw slight declines in their late payment rates. American Express says that their delinquency rates have remained unchanged at 3.6%
Credit card write-offs rose by 59% in 2009 totaling more than $89 billion in losses for U.S. Banks, according to R.K. Hammer Investment Bankers, in Thousand Oaks, California.
