Credit Cards

FED SAYS CREDIT CARDS EASIER TO GET, BUT DOES ANYONE WANT ONE?


Banks were more willing to approve credit card applications in the first three months of 2011, according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve, but it was less than clear whether consumers really want them, according to a CreditCards.com report yesterday. According to the Federal Reserve's latest survey of senior loan officers—a quarterly poll of U.S. banks regarding their lending practices—credit card issuers were much more likely to approve applicants in the first quarter of this year, as banks are continuing to ramp up the flow of credit after slowing it to a trickle during the economic recession. There were mixed signals when it came to demand, however. The Fed noted that "demand was little changed for credit card loans" in the early months of 2011, ultimately showing a net decrease of about 3 percent. However, when the survey asked about both new credit card accounts and increases in existing credit lines, respondents said demand had gone up substantially (a net 16 percent). Those two results would seem to indicate that while people aren't really looking for new credit cards, they want access to more credit on the plastic they already carry

http://dizzy.abiworld.org/t/1520839/201584/7232/0/