A new report on UK credit card users reveals that debt is being paid off more slowly by consumers than at any point in the last two years. In an even more concerning sign, more British credit card holders are using their credit cards to get cash advances than at any time in the same period.

These damning statistics come from FICO, whose report covers ‘classic’ credit card accounts established in the last five years. This category of card does not include premium cards, student cards and credit cards issued in Ireland.

FICO’s vice president and managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa Mike Gordon says:

“The combination of flat spending on classic cards with lower payment percentages and higher cash usage indicates increasing strain on consumers’ wallets.”

As the Eurozone continues to limp along unconvincingly and youth unemployment in the UK hits new highs each month, it’s hardly surprising people are borrowing faster and repaying more slowly.

The grim news doesn’t stop there: the latest figures from the Bank of England reveal people in the UK collectively owed 56.9 billion on their credit cards in September 2011. In all, Britain is shouldering 208.6 billion of unsecured debt – that means credit card borrowing makes up nearly 30% of all debt that isn’t secured on property.

And to top things off, shameless bigots like this inhabit the country (NSFW):

… though admittedly that’s an unrelated issue.

Credit Card Debt Being Paid Off Slower Than Ever in UK is a post from: The Inquisitr

The U.S.’s credit rating will be downgraded again before 2011 is out, Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists have predicted.

Back in the first week of August, America’s ‘AAA’ rating was cut to an ‘AA+,’ by credit agency Standard & Poor’s. Yet the new ‘AA+’ rating is not infallible, according to a report filed on Friday.

The Bank of America Merrill Lynch paper said there is little hope of a breakthrough for the congressional “super committee” on deficit reduction. The group was formed to locate $1.5 trillion in deficit cuts over the next ten years by November 23rd, 2011. Ethan Harris, North American economist at BoA Merrill, writes:

“The ‘not-so-super’ deficit commission is very unlikely to come up with a credible deficit-reduction plan. The committee is more divided than the overall Congress. The credit rating agencies have strongly suggested that further rating cuts are likely if Congress does not come up with a credible long-run plan. Hence, we expect at least one credit downgrade in late November or early December when the super committee crashes.”

The U.S. has not been alone in losing its shiny ‘AAA’ rating, with Spain, Italy, Greece, Ireland, and Portugal all downgraded in 2011.

The current S&P outlook on the U.S. rating is ‘negative,’ and S&P has warned it “could lower the long-term rating to ‘AA’ within the next two years if we see that less reduction in spending than agreed to, higher interest rates, or new fiscal pressures during the period result in a higher general government debt trajectory than we currently assume in our base case.”

There are five credit agencies that evaluate a country’s credit worthiness, including Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings. Both still rate the U.S. ‘AAA,’ but Moody’s also has a ‘negative’ outlook.

U.S. Credit Rating Could Be Downgraded Again Soon [We're All Doomed] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Another possible major credit downgrade is in the news, with credit rating agency Moody’s putting France on notice for a potential lowered outlook.

France’s ten-year notes are behind only Greece, Ireland and Belgium in Q4 of 2011, and trader speculation that the European Financial Stability Facility could be used in the event of a default of sovereign debt in order to cover losses has threatened Moody’s France rating, the agency has warned. Late Monday, Moody’s commented on the situation in a report and said:

“The deterioration in debt metrics and the potential for further contingent liabilities to emerge are exerting pressure on the stable outlook of the government’s Aaa debt rating. The French government now has less room for maneuver in terms of stretching its balance sheet than it had in 2008.”

Economist Bob McKee of Independent Strategy Ltd. in London spoke of the effects of Moody’s France rating on that of other European nations:

“France is the key factor here. Offering insurance increases France’s contingent liability and that puts pressure on its rating. If France loses its AAA status, that in turn increases the pressure on Germany.”

France’s Finance Minister François Baroin said the country “will do everything to avoid being downgraded,” and the New York Times carried some of Baroin’s official comment on the report:

Mr. Baroin said France’s AAA rating was “not in danger” because the government was ahead of schedule in passing a spate of measures to reduce the deficit. However, he acknowledged that economic growth — which ground to a halt in the second quarter — would probably not meet the 1.75 percent target the government had set for 2012.

“It’s probably too high compared to the development of the economic situation,” Mr. Baroin said on French television.

The Times notes that France’s debt rating has been under close watch since the August Standard & Poor’s downgrade of America’s credit.

Moody’s France Rating in Peril, AAA Status Under Review is a post from: The Inquisitr

American consumers are once again adding tons of credit card debt to their lives, according to a recent report American’s added $18.4 billion in debt during the second quarter of 2011, numbers that haven’t been seen since 2008 and a 66% over debt accumulation compared to the same period of 2010.

According to credit card research firm CardHub.com compared to 2009 consumers added 368% more debt in 2011 then they did in 2009′s Q1.

While the debt load is higher than recent times the actual amount of outstanding credit card debt is down by 18% from $972 billion in 2008 to $792 billion in 2011 according to Federal Reserve numbers.

If current trends continue American consumers are expected to rack up $54 billion more debt than they did in 2010.

In a maneuver that should have predatory lender opponents worried much of the recent debt is being generated by consumers with “so-so” credit now that credit card company’s have a better idea of the governments direction following final approval for the CARD Act and “swipe fee act.”

Debt card company’s have also attempting to nickel and dime their customers more thoroughly with debit card fees and the removal of many debit card rewards programs which has pushed many consumers back into using credit cards over their banks debit card offerings.

There is one good sign given current debt levels, consumers may be using credit more openly once again but they are also defaulting less than they did in the past and they are making on-time monthly payments more regularly.

Do you think credit card using consumers are allowing their debt get too far out of hand once again?

Credit Card Debt On The Rise Again is a post from: The Inquisitr

When questioned about Reddit’s role in the inception of what would become the “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear,” Jon Stewart may have understated the role of the internet a bit.

Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian questioned as to Stewart to what degree internet enthusiasm inspired the rally, to which Stewart answered that it “didn’t hurt.” (Ouch.) Colbert also downplayed the importance of Reddit (where it appears the idea originated) when asked, saying that the internet “didn’t affect” rally attendance one way or the other. (Of course, upwards of 10,000 New Yorkers were bussed to the National Mall on blog-sourced buses, but…)

Today, Drew Curtis of Fark posted an angry open letter ripping into The Daily Show not only for not giving credit where credit is due in regards to the rally, but also for mining Fark and Reddit for comedy topics without ever once mentioning either site on the show. Curtis begins:

Did you hear that Reddit? All that work you put into getting the word out, organizing meetups, and convincing people to go “didn’t hurt”. All that initial support in getting the ball rolling on this rally a few months back was great, but it wasn’t a factor. Thanks for your meaningless and futile support that Comedy Central really didn’t need at the end of the day to get a surprise crowd of 250,000 people to the rally. Did you hear that Internet? You had no role in this either, it was all Comedy Central all the way.

After accusing the network of not really admitting the idea for the rally belonged to the internet, Curtis goes on to accuse Comedy Central writers of snatching yo’ memes up:

Why am I so bent about this? First and foremost, because a friend of mine got smacked down on live TV by a guy he helped, and I can’t stand by and do nothing about it without at least saying something. But also because Daily Show writers have been doing essentially the same thing to me, every single day for the past 10 years. They use Fark every day to source material, and haven’t mentioned Fark on air even one single time. It’s the same attitude toward Reddit: “sure doesn’t hurt, but not a significant contribution.” Thanks to Fark, your writers don’t have to go far to fill your shows up with material for you to use. Every writer I’ve met thanks me vociferously for Fark and tells me how much easier it makes their jobs. Sure that’s not worth a daily mention, but I would think at least one in the last 10 years. It has yet to happen. I’ve learned to live with it, but Alexis is my friend and he does not deserve this kind of treatment. Especially considering the effort Reddit put into promoting the rally.

Curtis ends his letter by suggesting to Comedy Central that if they continue to leech off the internet, the unwashed blogging masses could turn against them for their next initiative. He also says flat out that Comedy Central did do the bulk of the work in promoting the rally, just that the internet also played an invaluable role in making it what it ultimately became. (Attendance is believed to have been in the hundreds of thousands.)

Do you think Stewart and Colbert’s comments were ungrateful and out of line? Does Reddit deserve more credit for the success of the rally?

/oblig

Drew Curtis smacks down ‘Daily Show’ for stealing from Fark, Reddit is a post from: The Inquisitr

People like to think that only on the Internet does one need to worry about companies watching everything you do and using that information in some way against you. Well I hate to be the one to break the bad news to you but this isn’t the case as credit cards companies have more data on you than anything found on the web. They can track your purchases, types of things being purchased, when you made the purchases and where you made them all within seconds of you buying something.

Most people don’t get overly concerned about this type of data collection when it comes to credit cards, debit cards, air miles cards or store cards. The problem is that during times of financial hardship that data is possibly being used to make decisions about your credit card worthiness. The idea behind this kind of profiling is that when you buy used clothing at thrift stores or do your shopping at those club superstores the credit card companies see this as a possible indicator of financial distress. Distress that could lead to missed payments or defaults.

These indicators are used by the credit card companies to decide whether to decrease your your credit limit as well as whether to increase your interest rates. American Express has already admitted to doing this kind of profiling but says that it has stopped the practice. This kind of thing has led to a new credit card reform law that has a provision requiring federal regulators to investigate if credit card companies are using the collected data in this type of profiling, leading to increased rates or decreased limits.

Stephens says the database’s purchasing information can provide a pretty clear picture of credit card users. "What do they know about you? Depending on how extensively you use your credit card, they conceivably have a very clear, distinct picture of an individual. It’s not only your retail purchases, but your online purchases. It can really paint a very complete picture. The stores that you shop at can paint a picture. You also may use it at a doctor’s office if you pay for care with a credit card. Some people pay for their utilities with credit cards."

Source: Connie Prater – WalletPop :: What You Buy Affects Your Credit

As they say in the post – cash is really the only privacy protector when it comes to your buying or bill paying habits.

Think twice about using credit cards at thrift or club stores is a post from: The Inquisitr