No signs Washington to come to Detroit's rescue

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Source: http://networks.org/?src=ap:U:US_DETROIT_BAILOUT_BLUES

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Philanthropist Betsy Martin believed in the power of community

Of the many tributes and letters Betsy Martin?s husband received after her death, one letter in particular articulated her generous nature. The writer was not a close friend but lived in the same neighbourhood and always found Betsy, who knew the woman?s husband had terminal cancer, warm and supportive whenever they crossed paths.

?When one speaks of random acts of kindness, I think of Betsy. After my husband had passed away ... I remember coming home one day and finding a tin on my porch full of Christmas cookies, with a lovely, thoughtful note attached. I will never forget that gesture and how much it meant to me.?

Betsy Martin understood the importance of community and service to others. A graduate of the renowned Harvard Kennedy School, she was honoured with the Lucius N. Littauer Fellow award for academic excellence and her contribution to the Harvard community, and later helped the Community Foundations of Canada (CFC) win a prestigious award for innovation.

As her friend and former CFC president and chief executive officer Monica Patten explains: ?Betsy believed in the power of community in people?s lives. It was the focus for her commitment.?

Elizabeth (Betsy) Carroll Martin was born on March 14, 1959, in Washington, D.C., one of six siblings in a military family often on the move before settling in St. Louis, Mo., when she was 8.

Older sister Michele speculates that Betsy?s interest in healthy communities sprang from the great neighbourhood where they lived and an even greater influence ? her parents Maurice, an air-force colonel, and Marion:

?It was the influence of mom and dad?s commitment to God, country, family and others which was such an ingrained example to us, that it [felt] necessary and normal for a healthy life. We grew up knowing that caring for our world and others, especially those in need was critical.?

Raised a Catholic, Ms. Martin attended Jesuit-founded Boston College, joining the business sector after graduating in 1982. Although successful, she realized while working for Citicorp Mortgage Inc. in St. Louis that she was more interested in the firm?s philanthropic programs.

That interest continued when she left in 1992 to become director of public affairs for St. Louis University. Two years later, she was accepted in the master of public administration program at the Kennedy School, winning the Littauer while volunteering with the Boston Foundation.

While at Harvard, she also met husband Corey Copeland. After graduation, they moved to Ottawa and married on Aug. 5, 1995. Six years later, daughter Emma was born.

Ms. Martin realized her desire to join the non-profit sector when she joined the CFC ? a national organization dedicated to building and strengthening communities. As director of programs, ?Betsy was very grounded in the present but she always had a vision for what was possible,? Ms. Patten says.

?She was able to think strategically and, because she had a business background, she understood the rules of the game. Her experience in the banking world was a great asset.?

In 1999, an ambitious grassroots campaign was launched to celebrate the new millennium and strengthen the social fabric at the same time. Designed, developed and directed by Ms. Martin, the Our Millennium National Project engaged more than 4.6 million Canadians in giving gifts to their communities to mark the occasion.

According to an assessment prepared for the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, the venture ?was essentially about giving gifts ? but not in the traditional sense. The type of giving encouraged was entirely voluntary and noncommercial .... built on the foundation of uniquely human gifts: care, concern, attention, recognition, appreciation, affirming the reality of others, and celebrating both difference and similarity.?

Despite the program?s success ? it received a prestigious award of merit for innovation that is presented annually (both in Canada and the U.S.) by late business guru Peter Drucker?s charitable foundation ? but Ms. Martin thought more should be done to engage the public. In a 2005 journal article, she wrote that ?Canada?s community foundations need to focus on social justice. By this we mean investing a community foundation?s resources (financial and other) to address underlying causes, rather than simply to treat symptoms.?

Always ready to take on a challenge, she wrote a letter to the St. Louis Post Dispatch last summer ? willing to take on the Vatican despite having just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

?Catholic nuns have been the backbone of the church in the United States for generations: They educated us, built our hospitals, cared for the poor and served wherever needed ...,? she contended.

?To be reprimanded over their concern with social justice and serving the poor and for questioning the limited roles for women in the church is confounding to say the least ? and unfortunately shows that the Vatican is more concerned with its own power and authority ... The old order is fighting hard and will not give up easily. The American nuns have more capacity and power to withstand this crackdown than many other women around the globe. They owe it to themselves and powerless women around the globe to stand firm and faithful and fearless.?

Betsy Martin died peacefully on June 4. She was 54 and leaves her husband, daughter, siblings Maurice, Michele, Joan, Anne and Nancy and numerous nieces and nephews.

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/betsy-martin-believed-in-the-power-of-community/article13334777/?cmpid=rss1

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UK couple affiliated with F-35 program in Florida has twins

EGLIN AFB, Fla. - The international F-35 family that has come to call Northwest Florida home has welcomed its newest members.

Twins Kareem and Raya Aokal were born two weeks ago to their United Kingdom parents who are stationed at Eglin Air Force Base's 33rd Fighter Wing. They are the first international babies to be born into the program.

About 18 airmen and sailors from the United Kingdom are stationed at Eglin along with service members from all branches of the U.S. military to train to fly and maintain the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Although more than 4,000 miles from home, Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer Ihsaan Aokal and his wife, Hebah Badarneh, said their family has been welcomed with open arms.

Aokal, 36, said the 60 or so airmen, sailors and their families who traveled to Eglin to work with the F-35 program have become very close and supportive of one another.

"It's like having a bit of an extended family while we're out here," he said.

Near the 33rd's hangar Thursday, men from the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force gathered around a stroller to get a peek at the tiny babies.

Even though it's not a tradition in the United Kingdom, the wing threw a baby shower for the couple before the infants' birth, Aokal said.

He said having the babies here has added to what has already been an amazing encounter working with the F-35 program.

"Coming to America to live, working on this cutting-edge program, now twins," he said. "It just added another dimension to our experience."

Badarneh, 31, who is from Jordan, found out she was pregnant just a few weeks after the couple arrived in the United States with their young son last September.

Shortly after, she was being treated for dehydration when medical staff asked her if she had twins in her family.

"I said, 'no, not twins,' and started crying," she said. "I was scared. It's shocking, really."

Aokal said he tried to be sympathetic with his wife after they found out that two babies were on the way, but really he was happy. Ever since he was young he'd dreamed that an ideal family would include boy and girl twins.

Badarneh said she learned to cope with what was to come, and now she really doesn't see it as a difficulty.

"It's just two babies instead of one," she said. "Extra Pampers. Extra bottles."

Aokal said he and Badarneh actually are a lot more relaxed with these babies than they were when they were new parents with their first child, now 2 years old.

Having the twins while stationed in the United States was not in their plans. Any dreams they had had of what they would do during their stay were displaced by the pregnancy, but the experience working with the fledgling F-35 program has been a highlight of Aokal's career.

"To have been given this opportunity to be one of the select few, that is not wasted on me at all," he said.

The opportunity has afforded his children opportunities of their own.

The babies are American citizens, which gives them chances for travel to the United States and even across the world that they might not have had otherwise.

And it's something special for the baby book, giving the children a unique history of their birth and first years.

"They won't know now, but when they grow up and look back they will know that we've done something good for them," Badarneh said.

"It's great for the memories," Aokal said.

Source: http://www.stripes.com/news/air-force/uk-couple-affiliated-with-f-35-program-in-florida-has-twins-1.231445

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The Grumpy Economist: Health Insurance and Labor Supply

I just ran across an interesting paper, "Public Health Insurance, Labor Supply, and Employment Lock" by ?Craig Garthwaite, ?Tal Gross and my Booth colleague Matthew Notowidigdo.

They study an interesting event

... In 2005, Tennessee discontinued its expansion of TennCare, the state?s Medicaid system. ... Approximately 170,000 adults (roughly 4 percent of the state?s non-elderly, adult population) abruptly lost public health insurance coverage over a three-month period.

The result was

a large and immediate labor supply increase....we find an immediate increase in job search behavior and a steady rise in both employment and health insurance coverage.?

They call the phenomenon "employment lock." This is different from "job lock," people with preexisting conditions who stay with jobs they didn't want in order to keep health insurance. "Employment lock" is the choice by healthy people to work at all in order to get ?insurance, or put in academic prose, "strong work disincentives from public health insurance that are unrelated to strict income-based eligibility limits."

The converse is a new danger for the ACA

Additionally, our estimates may provide useful guidance regarding the likely labor supply impacts of the ACA...

If such individuals could instead acquire affordable health insurance apart from their employer, many of them would exit the labor force entirely. As a result of employment lock, policies that expand access to health insurance apart from employers (such as the ACA) may have large labor market effects

... Using CPS data, we estimate that between 840,000 and 1.5 million childless adults in the US currently earn less than 200 percent of the poverty line, have employer-provided insurance, and are not eligible for public health insurance.Applying our labor supply estimates directly to this population, we predict a decline in employment of between 530,000 and 940,000 in response to this group of individuals being made newly eligible for free or heavily subsidized health insurance.?

They are quick to point out that this is not necessarily a bad thing."the effects do not necessarily imply a welfare loss for individuals choosing to leave the labor force after receiving access to non-employer provided health insurance." If people only work at a job they hate in order to get health insurance, then people may be better off not working. The policy world often just assumes more employment is always a great thing, which isn't true.

However, less employment is not necessarily a good thing either. These are childless adults. How are they supporting themselves if they don't work? Can it possibly be optimal for them to just sit around the house? We surely don't want to compare employer-provided health insurance with highly subsidized individual insurance for the unemployed-- that's a subsidy to leisure and obviously skewing the scales.

Most of all, low-income single people face extraordinarily high marginal tax rates and other disincentives to work. So, an artificial incentive to work in order to get health insurance may offset some of the otherwise irresistible incentives not to work. (A good calculation for Casey Mulligan!)

And whether the people are in the end better off working or staying home and receiving larger subsidies, the government and taxpayers are clearly worse off, as the people and their employers are not paying taxes any more.

In sum, academic caution aside, inducing a million childless adults to leave legal employment doesn't look like a good thing to me. ?

The evidence is pretty cool. Here are some pictures lifted from the paper.

Source: http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2013/07/health-insurance-and-labor-supply.html

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Credit card statistics, debt statistics, industry facts

By Daniel P.?Ray?and?Yasmin?Ghahremani

This page contains credit card statistics -- including statistics on credit card debt, credit card delinquencies, credit scores, credit card interest rates, bankruptcies, average credit card debt and more -- compiled by the CreditCards.com staff. Statistics on this page will be updated regularly as we receive new or updated credit card data.? Some data may appear multiple times on the page because the information is applicable in multiple categories.

If you have credit card statistics that you'd like to share, or if you have a question, comment or concern about what has or hasn't been included on the page, please e-mail us at Editors@CreditCards.com.

Most popular searches

• Average card debt per U.S. adult, excluding zero-balance cards and store cards: $4,878. (Source: TransUnion analysis of May 2013 credit files.)
• Average debt per card that usually carries a balance: $8,220. (Source: Experian analysis of credit files, March 2013.)
• Average debt per card that doesn't usually carry a balance: $1,037. (Source: Experian analysis of credit files, March 2013.)
• 609.8 million credit cards held by U.S. consumers. (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• Average number of credit cards held by cardholders: 3.5, as of year-end 2008 (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• Average APR on new credit card offers: See current CreditCards.com Weekly Rate Report (the link automatically takes you to the most recent edition of our weekly nationwide survey).
• Average APR on credit card with a balance on it: 13.01 percent, as of the first quarter of 2013 (Source: Federal Reserve's G.19 report on consumer credit, released July 2013)
• Total U.S. revolving debt (98 percent of which is made up of credit card debt): $856.5 billion, as of May 2013 (Source: Federal Reserve's G.19 report on consumer credit, released July 2013)
• Total U.S. consumer debt: $2.84 trillion, as of May 2013 (Source: Federal Reserve's G.19 report on consumer credit, released July 2013)
• U.S. credit card charge-off rate in first quarter of 2013: 3.86 percent. (Source: Federal Reserve, seasonally adjusted charge-off and delinqency rate report, May 2013)

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Credit cards

Circulation

Total cards in circulation in U.S.
(Through year-end 2011, unless otherwise noted)

• American Express credit: 50.6 million -- up from 48.9 million at yearend 2010 (Source: AmericanExpress.com)
• MasterCard credit: 176 million -- up from 143 million at yearend 2010 (Source: MasterCard)?
• MasterCard debit: 129 million -- up from 119 million at yearend 2010 (Source: MasterCard)
• Visa credit: 261 million as of Sept. 30, 2011 -- down from 269 million, as of Sept. 30, 2010 (Source: Visa)
• Visa debit: 392 million as of Sept. 30, 2011 -- down from 399 million, as of Sept. 30, 2010 (Source: Visa)
• Discover cards: Unavailable

Card ownership

• 176.8 million credit cardholders in 2008 (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• Some 29 percent of poll respondents reported that they do not have a credit card. That was a more than 10 percent jump from the number of respondents who reported having no credit cards in June 2009. (Source: Scientific poll for CreditCards.com, conducted Feb. 5-7, 2010)
• The average credit cardholder has 3.5 credit cards. Including both cardholders and non-cardholders, the average consumer has 2.7 cards each. (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• The average age at which a U.S. consumer under the age of 35 first adopted a credit card is 20.8 years. The average age of credit card adoption for a consumer over the age of 65 is 40.6 years. (Source: "The 2008 Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston)
• Eighty percent of consumers currently own a debit card, compared to 78 percent who own a credit card and 17 who own a prepaid card. (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• About 60 percent of consumers have a rewards credit card. (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• About 21 percent of consumer currently have a contactless debit card, while 26 percent have a contactless credit card. (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• In the fourth quarter of 2008, consumers over 60 had an average of 5.6 open bankcard and retail accounts. Overall, consumers had an average of 5.4 cards. A year before, those over 60 had 6.1 open cards and consumers overall had 5.5. In 2006, those over 60 had 6.2 open cards and consumers overall had 5.5. (Source: Experian marketing insight snapshot, March 2009)
• According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, there were?159?million credit cardholders in the United States in 2000, 173 million in 2006,?and that number is projected to grow to 181 million Americans by 2010. (Source: Census Bureau)
• In 2006, the United States Census Bureau determined that there were nearly 1.5 billion credit cards in use in the U.S. A stack of all those credit cards would reach more than 70 miles into space?-- and be almost as tall as 13 Mount Everests. (Source: NY Times, Feb. 23, 2009)
• As of yearend 2009, there were 270 million Visa credit cards and 382 million Visa debit cards in circulation in the United States. (Source: Visa.com)
• As of yearend 2009, there were 203 million MasterCard credit cards and 125 million MasterCard debit cards in circulation in the United States. (Source: MasterCard.com)
• As of yearend 2009, there were 48.9 million American Express credit cards in circulation in the United States. (Source: AmericanExpress.com)
• As of yearend 2009, there were 54.4 million Discover credit cards in circulation in the United States. (Source: Discover.com)
• Eighty-four percent of the student population overall have credit cards, an increase of approximately 11 percent since the fall of 2004. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Only 2 percent of undergraduates had no credit history. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Half of college undergraduates had four or more credit cards in 2008. That's up from 43 percent in 2004 and just 32 percent in 2000.? (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Since 2004, students who arrived on campus as freshmen with a credit card already in-hand have increased from 23 percent to 39 percent. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Two-thirds of survey respondents said they would consider switching their primary credit card if a better feature were offered. (Source: ComScore, September 2008)
• 76 percent of undergraduates have credit cards, and the average undergrad has $2,200 in credit card. Additionally, they will amass almost $20,000 in student debt. (Source: Nellie Mae, "Undergraduate Students and Credit Cards in 2004: An Analysis of Usage Rates and Trends")
• 41 percent of college students have a credit card. Of the students with cards, about 65 percent pay their bills in full every month, which is higher than the general adult population. (Source: Student Monitor annual financial services study, 2008)
• Approximately 74.9 percent of the U.S. families surveyed in 2004 had credit cards, and 58 percent of those families carried a balance. In 2001, 76.2 percent of families had credit cards, and 55 percent of those families carried a balance. (Source: Federal Reserve Bulletin, February 2006)
• About a quarter have no credit cards, and an additional 30 percent or so pay off their balances every month. (Source: Federal Reserve Board survey of consumer finances, 2004)
• On average, today's consumer has a total of 13 credit obligations on record at a credit bureau. These include credit cards (such as department store charge cards, gas cards, and bank cards) and installment loans (auto loans, mortgage loans, student loans, etc.). Not included are savings and checking accounts (typically not reported to a credit bureau). Of these 13 credit obligations, nine are likely to be credit cards and four are likely to be installment loans. (Source: myfico.com)
• The average consumer's oldest obligation is 14 years old, indicating that he or she has been managing credit for some time. In fact, one out of four consumers had credit histories of 20 years or longer. Only one in 20 consumers had credit histories shorter than two years. (Source: myfico.com)
• Approximately 51 percent of the U.S. population has at least two credit cards. (Source: Experian national score index study, February 2007)
• At about 20 percent, New Hampshire and New Jersey have the largest concentration of consumers with 10 or more credit cards. (Source: Experian national score index study, February 2007)
• Consumers carry more than 1 billion Visa cards worldwide. More than 450 million of those cards are in the United States. (Source: Visa USA internal statistics, 4th quarter 2006)
• About 80 million contactless payment cards are expected to be issued through 2009, according to Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. (Source: Contactless News, "Contactless Payments: What's Next?" August 2009)
• Of families with credit cards in 2007, 96.1 percent had bank cards, up less than 1 percent from 2004. (Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, February 2009)
• Of families with credit cards in 2007, 11.9 percent held gas cards, and that's down more than 5 percent from 2004. (Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, February 2009)

Customer satisfaction

J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Credit Card Satisfaction Study Rankings?

1. American Express
2. Discover
3. US Bank
4. Wells Fargo
5. Chase
6. Barclaycard
7. Bank of America
8. Capital One
9. Citi
10. HSBC

(Source: J.D. Power and Associates)

Bankruptcy/delinquency

• U.S. credit card 60-day delinquency rate: 4.27 percent. (Source: Fitch Ratings, April 2010)

Business credit cards

• Credit cards are now the most common source of financing for America?s small-business owners. (Source: National Small Business Association survey, 2008)
• 44 percent of small-business owners identified credit cards as a source of financing that their company had used in the previous 12 months ?- more than any other source of financing, including business earnings. In 1993, only 16 percent of small-businesses owners identified credit cards as a source of funding they had used in the preceding 12 months. (Source: National Small Business Association survey, 2008)

Credit limits and usage

• In 2007, 97 percent of consumers indicated they used a credit card in the past year. In 2008, that number plummeted to 72 percent. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• Credit card usage fell dramatically from 2007 to 2008, with only 64 percent of consumers indicating they used a credit card in the month preceding the September 2008 survey, compared to 87 percent of consumers in 2007 ? a 23 percentage point decline. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• 80 percent of Americans 65 or older indicated they used a credit card in the month preceding the September 2008 survey. That's 13 points higher than any other age group. They also used debit cards far less than other age groups. Only 47 percent of those over 65 said they had used a debit card in the month before the survey, 19 points lower than any other age group. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• 63 percent of Americans aged 25 to 34 indicated they had used a credit card in the month preceding the September 2008 survey. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• Just 51 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 indicated they had used a credit card in the month preceding the September 2008 survey. 71 percent of that age group said that they had used a debit card in the same period. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• 92 percent of cards included a fee for exceeding the credit limit, including 100 percent of all student cards. The amount of the overlimit fee is $39 on most accounts. (Source: Pew Safe Credit Cards Project, March 2009)
• For families having any bank-type cards, the median number of such cards remained at 2; the median credit limit on all such cards rose 21.4 percent, to $18,000, and the median interest rate on the card with the largest balance (or on the newest card, if no outstanding balances existed) rose 1.0 percentage point, to 12.5 percent. (Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, February 2009)?
• 58 percent of Hispanics have not used a credit card in the past 30 days. (Source: Experian Consumer Research study, November 2008)
• 31 percent of Hispanics typically pay cash for their purchases. (Source: Experian Consumer Research study, November 2008)
• Approximately 14 percent of Americans use 50 percent or more of their available credit. (Source: Experian National Score Index Study, February 2007)
• At about 17 percent each, Alaska and Hawaii have the largest concentration of consumers who use 50 percent or more of their available credit. (Source: Experian National Score Index Study, February 2007)
• Residents of Jackson, Miss., use the highest percentage of their credit limit. (Source: Men's Health magazine's personal debt survey, July 2008)
• Lincoln, Neb., residents use the lowest percentage of their credit limit. (Source: Men's Health magazine's personal debt survey, July 2008)
• 95 percent of surveyed issuers have over-limit fees. The average over-limit fee, among institutions with over-limit fees, is $29.13. (Source: Consumer Action credit card survey, July 2008.)
• 37 percent of consumers say they are using their credit cards less. (Source: Javelin Strategy & Research, "Credit Card Issuer Profitability in a Difficult Economy," July 2008)

Debt

• In 2004, of those with credit cards, 84 percent of African-American households carried credit card debt compared with 54 percent of white households. (Source: Demos.org, "Borrowing To Make Ends Meet," November 2007)
• Over 90 percent of African-American families earning between $10,000 and $24,999 had credit card debt. (Source: Demos.org study, November 2007)
• 42 percent of Hispanics don't like the idea of being in debt. (Source: Experian Consumer Research study, November 2008)
• Undergraduates are carrying record-high credit card balances. The average (mean) balance grew to $3,173, the highest in the years the study has been conducted. Median debt grew from 2004?s $946 to $1,645. Twenty-one percent of undergraduates had balances of between $3,000 and $7,000, also up from the last study. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• In spring of 2008, only 15 percent of freshmen had a zero balance, down dramatically from 69 percent in the fall of 2004. The median debt freshmen carried was $939, nearly triple the $373 in 2004. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Seniors graduated with an average credit card debt of more than $4,100, up from $2,900 almost four years ago. Close to one-fifth of seniors carried balances greater than $7,000. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• The average college graduate has nearly $20,000 in debt; average credit card debt has increased 47 percent between 1989 and 2004 for 25-to 34-year-olds and 11 percent for 18- to 24-year-olds. Nearly one in five 18- to 24-year-olds is in "debt hardship," up from 12 percent in 1989. (Source: Demos.org, "The Economic State of Young America," May 2008)
• Discussing credit card debt is highly taboo. The topics at the top of the list of things that people say they are very or somewhat unlikely to talk openly about with someone they just met were: The amount of credit card debt (81 percent); details of your love life (81 percent); your salary (77 percent); the amount you pay for your monthly mortgage or rent (72 percent); your health problems (62 percent); your weight (50 percent). (Source: CreditCards.com research, January 2009)

Fees

• Penalty fees from credit cards peaked at about $22.9 billion in 2009, then fell to $22.5? billion as the effects of the Credit CARD act kicked in. (Source: R.K Hammer, longtime credit card industry adviser, June 2011 report)
• From 1989 to 2004, the percentage of cardholders incurring fees due to late payments of 60 days or more increased from 4.8 percent to 8.0 percent. (Source: Demos.org, "Borrowing To Make Ends Meet," November 2007)
• One-fourth of the students surveyed in US PIRG's 2008 Campus Credit Card Trap report said that they have paid a late fee, and 15 percent have paid an "over the limit" fee. (Source: U.S. PIRG, "Campus Credit Card Trap")
• In the first 3 months of 2009, 27 percent of card offers carried an annual fee, up from 18 percent in 2008, according to the financial research firm Tower Group. (Source: ConsumerReports.org Money Blog, August 2009)
• Thirty-one of the 39 credit cards did not charge an annual fee. That marked a larger number of credit cards with no annual fee than in 2008, when 35 of 41cards had no annual fee. The cost of those fees ranged from $18 to $150. (Source: Consumer Action credit card survey, July 2009)
• The average late fee was found to have risen to $28.19, way up from $25.90 in 2008. Consumer Action reported that late fees reached up to $39 per incident. (Source: Consumer Action credit card survey, July 2009)
• 92 percent of cards included a fee for exceeding the credit limit, including 100 percent of all student cards. The amount of the overlimit fee is $39 on most accounts. (Source: Pew Safe Credit Cards Project, March 2009)
• 64 percent of respondents said having "no annual fee" was an important reason why they chose the credit card they did the last time they got a new card. (Source: Aite Group survey, January 2008)
• 95 percent of surveyed issuers have over-limit fees. The average over-limit fee, among institutions with over-limit fees, is $29.13. (Source: Consumer Action credit card survey, July 2008.)

Interest rates/APRs

• 36 percent of respondents said they didn't know the interest rate on the card they use most often. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009)
• The national average default rate as January 2012 stood at 28.6 percent, up from 27.9 percent two years earlier. The median rate also jumped, from 28.9 percent to 29.4 percent (Source: CreditCards.com survey of 100 leading credit cards, January 2012)
• Fewer cards charge a penalty rate. In 2010, 91 percent of cards charged a penalty rate. In 2012, that had fallen to 69 percent. (Source: CreditCards.com survey of 100 leading credit cards, January 2012)
• Slightly more than half of Americans -- 51 percent -- said that in the past 12 months, they carried over a balance and was charged interest on a credit card. (Source: "Financial Capability in the United States," FINRA Investor Education Foundation, December 2009)?
• Only eight percent of cards with penalty rate conditions offered to restore the original rate terms when payments are made on-time, usually after 12 months. (Source: Pew Safe Credit Cards Project, March 2009)
• 72 percent of cards included offers of low promotional rates which? issuers could revoke after a single late payment. (Source: Pew Safe Credit Cards Project, March 2009)
• On new credit card offers, the average APR: See current CreditCards.com Weekly Rate Report
• On existing credit cards, the average rate for purchases is 12.78 percent (Federal Reserve G.19 consumer credit release, November 2011
• Average APR on credit card with a balance on it: 14.67 percent, as of February, 2010 (Source: Federal Reserve's G.19 report on consumer credit, May 2010)

Rewards

• About 60 percent of consumers have a rewards credit card. (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• Visa says rewards cards now make up more than half of all credit cards and about 80 percent of money spent on a credit card. (Source: Aite Group, January 2008)
• Consumers say rewards are the second-most important reason for choosing to apply for a specific card, behind no annual fees and ahead of low interest rates.? (Source: Aite Group survey, January 2008)
• More than one third of consumers choose which card to use in order to maximize card rewards. (Source: ComScore, September 2008)
• Two-thirds of survey respondents said they would consider switching their primary credit card if a better feature were offered. (Source: ComScore, September 2008)
• Among customers who said they would consider switching cards based on better rewards, more than two thirds (68 percent) said that cash back would be most influential in getting them to switch. (Source: ComScore, September 2008)

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Debit cards

Market share

Total cards in circulation in U.S.

• Visa debit: 392 million as of Sept. 30, 2011 -- down from 399 million, as of Sept. 30, 2010 (Source: Visa.com)
• MasterCard debit: 129 million as of Dec. 31, 2011 -- up from 119 million, as of Dec. 31, 2010 (Source: MasterCard.com)

Purchase/transaction volume

Purchase, transaction volume in U.S.
(Through Dec. 31, 2011)

• Visa debit purchase volume: $1.15 trillion (Source: Visa.com)
• Visa debit transaction volume: 30.7 billion (Source: Visa.com)
• MasterCard debit purchase volume: $393 billion (Source: MasterCard.com)
• MasterCard debit transaction volume: 9.85 billion (Source: MasterCard.com)

Other statistics

• In 2008, 72 percent of consumers indicated they used a debit card in the past year. In 2007, that number was 65 percent. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• Debit card usage grew from 2007 to 2008, with 66 percent of consumers indicating they used a debit card in the month preceding the September 2008 survey, compared to 57 percent of consumers in 2007. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• Only 47 percent of Americans over 65 said they had used a debit card in the month before the September 2008 survey, 19 points lower than any other age group. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• 76 percent of Americans aged 25 to 34 indicated they had used a debit card in the month preceding the September 2008 survey. 63 percent of that age group said that had used a credit card in the same period. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• 71 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 said that they had used a debit card in the month preceding the September 2008 survey. Just 51 percent of that same age group indicated they had used a credit card in the same period. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• As of December 31, 2008, there were 126 million MasterCard debit cards in circulation in the United States. (Source: MasterCard.com)
• 74 percent of monthly college spending is with cash and debit cards. Only 7 percent is with credit cards. (Source: Student Monitor annual financial services study, 2008)

Fees

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Bankruptcy and delinquency

Bankruptcy

• Total bankruptcy filings in 2009 reached 1.4 million in 2009, up from 1.09 million in 2008. The vast majority were personal bankruptcies -- Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. Business bankruptcies made up 6 percent of all filings. (Source: AACER, the American Bankruptcy Institute, January 2010)
• Nevada surpassed Tennessee atop the listing of bankruptcies per capita, with more than 11 bankruptcies filed for every 1,000 residents. Tennessee and Georgia took the second and third slots behind the Silver State. Compared to 2009 third-quarter data, the biggest mover was Arizona, which rose six spots from No. 21 to No. 15. At the other end of the scale is Alaska, which had only 1.4 bankruptcies per capita, meaning the average Nevadan was eight times more likely to file bankruptcy than the average Alaskan. (Source: AACER, the American Bankruptcy Institute, January 2010)
• Young Americans now have the second highest rate of bankruptcy, just after those aged 35 to 44. The rate among 25- to 34-year-olds increased between 1991 and 2001, indicating that this generation is more likely to file bankruptcy as young adults than were young boomers at the same age. (Source: "Generation Broke: Growth of Debt Among Young Americans")
• Memphis, Tenn., consumers have suffered the most bankruptcies. (Source: Men's Health magazine's personal debt survey, July 2008)
• Yonkers, N.Y., has suffered the fewest bankruptcies. (Source: Men's Health magazine's personal debt survey, July 2008)

Delinquency

• U.S. credit card 60-day delinquency rate: 4.27 percent. (Source: Fitch Ratings, April 2010)
• According to Fitch Ratings, the number of cardholders 60 or more days late on payments fell in January of 2010 to 4.50 percent. That number is flat year-to-year. Those 30 days late declined to 5.72 percent and is down 5 percent year-to-year. (Source: Associated Press, March 2010)
• According to Fitch Ratings, the number of credit card defaults hit 11.37 percent, the highest level since a record 11.52 percent in September 2009. (Source: Associated Press, March 2010)
• In the last 12 months, 15 percent of American adults, or nearly 34 million people, have been late making a credit card payment and 8 percent (18 million people) have missed a payment entirely. (Source: National Foundation for Credit Counseling, 2009 Financial Literacy Survey, April 2009)
• 26 percent of Americans, or more than 58 million adults, admit to not paying all of their bills on time. Among African-Americans, this number is at 51 percent.? (Source: National Foundation for Credit Counseling, 2009 Financial Literacy Survey, April 2009)
• Penalty fees from credit cards will add up to about $20.5 billion in 2009, according to R. K. Hammer, a consultant to the credit card industry. (Source: New York Times, September 2009)
• Only eight percent of cards with penalty rate conditions offered to restore the original rate terms when payments are made on-time, usually after 12 months. (Source: Pew Safe Credit Cards Project, March 2009)
• 72 percent of cards included offers of low promotional rates which? issuers could revoke after a single late payment. (Source: Pew Safe Credit Cards Project, March 2009)
• From 1989 to 2004, the percentage of cardholders incurring fees due to late payments of 60 days or more increased from 4.8 percent to 8.0 percent. (Source: Demos.org, "Borrowing To Make Ends Meet," November 2007)
• One-fourth of the students surveyed in US PIRG's 2008 Campus Credit Card Trap report said that they have paid a late fee, and 15 percent have paid an "over the limit" fee. (Source: U.S. PIRG, "Campus Credit Card Trap")
• When finances are tight, 59 percent of people would pay their credit card bills last. A majority -- 52 percent -- would pay the mortgage first and 38 percent say they would pay for utilities before paying other obligations. (Source: CreditCards.com survey, December 2008)
• On average, today's consumers are paying their bills on time, with less than half of all consumers have ever been reported as 30 or more days late on a payment. Only three out of 10 have ever been 60 or more days overdue on any credit obligation. Seventy-seven percent of all consumers have never had a loan or account that was 90+ days overdue, and fewer than 20 percent have ever had a loan or account closed by the lender due to default . (Source: myfico.com)

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Business credit cards

• As of the end of 2009, 83 percent of small businesses used credit cards; 64 percent used small business cards, and 41 percent used personal cards. (Source: "Report to the Congress on the Use of Credit Cards by Small Businesses and the Credit Card Market for Small Businesses," May 2010)
• During 2009, about 20 percent of small businesses attempted to obtain a new credit card. (Source: "Report to the Congress on the Use of Credit Cards by Small Businesses and the Credit Card Market for Small Businesses," May 2010)
• An estimated 64 percent of small firms -- those with 1 to 50 employees -- used business credit cards either for borrowing or transacting in 2009. (Source: "Report to the Congress on the Use of Credit Cards by Small Businesses and the Credit Card Market for Small Businesses," May 2010)
• Among small businesses, credit cards are the second most commonly used financial product. Only checking accounts are used by more small businesses. (Source: "Report to the Congress on the Use of Credit Cards by Small Businesses and the Credit Card Market for Small Businesses," May 2010)
• More than 20 percent of firms applying for a credit card were not able to get a card, and another 5.6 percent did not accept the card because of unfavorable terms. (Source: "Report to the Congress on the Use of Credit Cards by Small Businesses and the Credit Card Market for Small Businesses," May 2010)
• During 2009, the most frequent change reported -- by 60 percent of those firms reporting changes -- was higher interest rates, followed by lowered credit limits, which was reported by 23 percent. (Source: "Report to the Congress on the Use of Credit Cards by Small Businesses and the Credit Card Market for Small Businesses," May 2010)
  Credit cards are now the most common source of financing for America?s small-business owners. (Source: National Small Business Association survey, 2008)
• 44 percent of small-business owners identified credit cards as a source of financing that their company had used in the previous 12 months ?- more than any other source of financing, including business earnings. In 1993, only 16 percent of small-businesses owners identified credit cards as a source of funding they had used in the preceding 12 months. (Source: National Small Business Association survey, 2008)

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Credit scores, reports

• Only 38 percent of survey respondents have obtained a copy of their credit report, and even fewer (36 percent) have checked their credit score in the past 12 months. (Source: "Financial Capability in the United States," FINRA Investor Education Foundation, December 2009)
• More than half -- 52 percent -- of those who have checked their credit score in the past 12 months reported having credit scores above 720. By contrast, only 17 percent of those who have checked their credit score had credit scores below 620. (Source: "Financial Capability in the United States," FINRA Investor Education Foundation, December 2009)
• From Q3 2008 to Q1 2009, the average TransUnion credit score fell 6 points to 651, the credit bureau says. Scores fell even further in the some economically challenged states: California fell 10 points and Arizona, 11. (Source: USAToday.com, April 2009)
• The U.S. average VantageScore? is 769. The average score rises to 837 when looking solely at the over-60 population. (Source: Experian marketing insight snapshot, March 2009)
• Nearly two-thirds of American adults (64 percent) -- or 144 million people -- have not ordered a copy of their credit report in the past year; this grows to nearly three-quarters (72 percent) among Hispanic Americans. (Source: National Foundation for Credit Counseling, 2009 Financial Literacy Survey, April 2009)
• More than one-third of American adults (37 percent) admit that they do not know their credit score. (Source: National Foundation for Credit Counseling, 2009 Financial Literacy Survey, April 2009)
• Only 2 percent of undergraduates had no credit history. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• On average, today's consumer has a total of 13 credit obligations on record at a credit bureau. These include credit cards (such as department store charge cards, gas cards, and bank cards) and installment loans (auto loans, mortgage loans, student loans, etc.). Not included are savings and checking accounts (typically not reported to a credit bureau). Of these 13 credit obligations, nine are likely to be credit cards and four are likely to be installment loans. (Source: myfico.com)
• The average consumer's oldest obligation is 14 years old, indicating that he or she has been managing credit for some time. In fact, one out of four consumers had credit histories of 20 years or longer. Only one in 20 consumers had credit histories shorter than two years. (Source: myfico.com)
• The average consumer has had only one credit inquiry on his or her accounts within the past year. Fewer than 6 percent had four or more inquiries resulting from a search for new credit. (Source: myfico.com)
• Corpus Christi, Texas, residents have America's worst credit scores. (Source: Men's Health magazine's personal debt survey, July 2008)
• Sioux Falls, S.D., boasts America's best credit scores. (Source: Men's Health magazine's personal debt survey, July 2008)

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Consumer debt

Total debt

• Total U.S. revolving debt (98 percent of which is made up of credit card debt): $793.1 billion, as of May 2011 (Source: Federal Reserve's G.19 report on consumer credit, July 2011)
• Total U.S. consumer debt: $2.43 trillion, as of May 2011 (Source: Federal Reserve's G.19 report on consumer credit, July 2011)
• Average credit card debt per household with credit card debt: $15,799*?
• Average total debt in 2009 (including credit cards, mortgage, home equity, student loans and more) for U.S. households with credit card debt: $54,000. (That's down from $93,850 in 2008.)?
• Average total debt in 2009 (including credit cards, mortgage, home equity, student loans and more) for all U.S. households: $16,046. (That's down from $35,245 in 2008.)
• Total U.S. consumer debt (which includes credit card debt and noncredit-card debt but not mortgage debt) reached $2.45 trillion at the end of 2009, down sharply from $2.56 trillion at the end of 2008. (Source: Federal Reserve's G.19 report, March 2010)
• Total U.S. consumer revolving debt fell to $866 billion at the end of 2009, down from $958 billion at the end of 2008. About 98 percent of that debt was credit card debt.?(Source: Federal Reserve's G.19 report, March 2010)
• The mean, or average, unpaid credit card balance last month was $3,389. The median is $90. (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• About 56 percent of consumers carried an unpaid balance in the past 12 months. (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• About 45 percent of consumers said their unpaid credit card balance had gotten "lower" or "much lower" in the past 12 months. Only 26 percent said it had gotten "higher" or "much higher." (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• Slightly more than half of Americans -- 51 percent -- said that in the past 12 months, they carried over a balance and was charged interest on a credit card. (Source: "Financial Capability in the United States," FINRA Investor Education Foundation, December 2009)
• The average balance per open credit card -- including both retail and bank cards -- was $1,157 at the end of 2008. That's up from $1,033 at the end of 2006, a growth of nearly 11 percent in two years. (Source: Experian marketing insight snapshot, March 2009)
• As of March 2009, U.S. revolving consumer debt, made up almost entirely of credit card debt, was about $950 Billion. In the fourth quarter of 2008, 13.9 percent of consumer disposable income went to service this debt. (Source: U.S. Congress' Joint Economic Committee, "Vicious Cycle: How Unfair Credit Card Company Practices Are Squeezing Consumers and Undermining the Recovery," May 2009)
• "As household wealth has declined in the downturn, more American families are facing financial distress due to high debt burdens. In 2007, before the recession began, 14.7 percent of U.S. families had debt exceeding 40 percent of their income." (Source: U.S. Congress' Joint Economic Committee, "Vicious Cycle: How Unfair Credit Card Company Practices Are Squeezing Consumers and Undermining the Recovery," May 2009)
• In 2007, the average balance for those carrying a balance rose 30.4 percent, to $7,300. Meanwhile, the median balance -- meaning half owe more and half owe less -- for those carrying a balance rose 25.0 percent, to $3,000. These increases followed slower changes over the preceding three years, when the median increased 9.1 percent and the average climbed 16.7 percent. (Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, February 2009)
• In the fourth quarter of 2008, consumers over 60 had an average balance of $763 per open bankcard or retail accounts. A year before, that balance was $746. The year before that, it was $735 -- meaning the average has jumped about 4 percent in 2 years. (Source: Experian marketing insight snapshot, March 2009)
• In 2007, credit card balances made up 3.5 percent of the total debt for all U.S. families, including those with and without credit card debt. (Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, February 2009)
• In 2007, fewer than half of U.S. families (46.1 percent) held credit card debt. That's virtually unchanged from 2004's 46.2 percent number. (Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, February 2009)
• Undergraduates are carrying record-high credit card balances. The average (mean) balance grew to $3,173, the highest in the years the study has been conducted. Median debt grew from 2004?s $946 to $1,645. Twenty-one percent of undergraduates had balances of between $3,000 and $7,000, also up from the last study. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Balances on bank cards accounted for 87.1 percent of outstanding credit card balances in 2007, up from 84.9 percent in 2004. (Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, February 2009)
• Of the 73.0 percent of families with credit cards in 2007, only 60.3 percent had a balance at the time of the interview; in 2004, 74.9 percent had cards, and 58.0 percent of these families had an outstanding balance on them. (Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, February 2009)
• "Total bankcard debt per bankcard borrower" is $5,710. This was alternately described as the total balance of bank-issued credit cards per consumer. (Source: TransUnion, December 2008)
• The average American with a credit file is responsible for $16,635 in debt, excluding mortgages, according to Experian. (Source: U.S. News and World Report, "The End of Credit Card Consumerism," August 2008)
• Among the 35 percent of college students with credit cards that do not pay their balances in full every month, the average balance is $452. This is down 19 percent from 2007. Moreover, this balance is approximately one-third the size of the average balance for active nonstudent young adult accounts and one-fourth the size of active accounts for older adults. (Source: Student Monitor annual financial services study, 2008)
• As of 2007, the majority of U.S. households had no credit card debt. (Source: Federal Reserve Board survey of consumer finances, February 2009)
• When you take a snapshot of how much an individual bank cardholder has in debt on a given day, and ignore whether that debt will be paid off in the grace period, Alaska is the state whose cardholders have the highest debt: $7,827. Alaska is followed by Nevada at $6,636 and Tennessee at $6,568. At the other end of the scale, the states whose citizens carry the lowest card debt at a given moment are Iowa ($4,277), North Dakota ($4,403) and West Virginia ($4,517). (Source: TransUnion, December 2008)
• About 40 percent of credit cardholders carry a balance of less than $1,000. About 15 percent are far less conservative in their use of credit cards and have total card balances in excess of $10,000. When you look at the total of all credit obligations combined (except mortgage loans), 48 percent of consumers carry less than $5,000 of debt. This includes all credit cards, lines of credit and loans -- everything but mortgages. Nearly 37 percent carry more than $10,000 of nonmortgage debt as reported to the credit bureaus. (Source: myfico.com)
• The typical consumer has access to approximately $19,000 on all credit cards combined. More than half of all people with credit cards are using less than 30 percent of their total credit card limit. Just over one in seven is using 80 percent or more of their credit card limit. (Source: myfico.com)
• The average college graduate has nearly $20,000 in debt; average credit card debt has increased 47 percent between 1989 and 2004 for 25-to 34-year-olds and 11 percent for 18-to 24-year-olds. Nearly one in five 18-to 24-year-olds is in "debt hardship," up from 12 percent in 1989. (Source: Demos.org, "The Economic State of Young America," May 2008)
• More than 90 percent of survey respondents believe they had the same amount -- or less -- debt as the average American. (Source: CreditCards.com survey, June 2007)
• Miami residents are the biggest overspenders, one study says. The 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas were ranked in terms of percent of median yearly household income owed to credit card companies and Miami residents owed 22.61 percent. Tampa (17.1 percent) and Los Angeles (16.81 percent) came in second and third, respectively. (Source: Forbes.com, Equifax and US Census Bureau, April 2009)

Credit card debt

• Average credit card debt per household with credit card debt: $15,799*?
• 76 percent of undergraduates have credit cards, and the average undergrad has $2,200 in credit card. Additionally, they will amass almost $20,000 in student debt. (Source: Nellie Mae, "Undergraduate Students and Credit Cards in 2004: An Analysis of Usage Rates and Trends")
• Total U.S. consumer revolving debt fell to $866 billion at the end of 2009, down from $958 billion at the end of 2008. About 98 percent of that debt was credit card debt.?(Source: Federal Reserve's G.19 report, March 2010)
• The mean, or average, unpaid credit card balance last month was $3,389. The median is $90. (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• About 45 percent of consumers said their unpaid credit card balance had gotten "lower" or "much lower" in the past 12 months. Only 26 percent said it had gotten "higher" or "much higher." (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• The average balance per open credit card -- including both retail and bank cards -- was $1,157 at the end of 2008. That's up from $1,033 at the end of 2006, a growth of nearly 11 percent in two years. (Source: Experian marketing insight snapshot, March 2009)
• As of March 2009, U.S. revolving consumer debt, made up almost entirely of credit card debt, was about $950 Billion. In the fourth quarter of 2008, 13.9 percent of consumer disposable income went to service this debt. (Source: U.S. Congress' Joint Economic Committee, "Vicious Cycle: How Unfair Credit Card Company Practices Are Squeezing Consumers and Undermining the Recovery," May 2009)
• In 2007, credit card balances made up 3.5 percent of the total debt for all U.S. families, including those with and without credit card debt. (Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, February 2009)
• In 2007, fewer than half of U.S. families (46.1 percent) held credit card debt. That's virtually unchanged from 2004's 46.2 percent number. (Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, February 2009)
• Undergraduates are carrying record-high credit card balances. The average (mean) balance grew to $3,173, the highest in the years the study has been conducted. Median debt grew from 2004?s $946 to $1,645. Twenty-one percent of undergraduates had balances of between $3,000 and $7,000, also up from the last study. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Of the 73.0 percent of families with credit cards in 2007, only 60.3 percent had a balance at the time of the interview; in 2004, 74.9 percent had cards, and 58.0 percent of these families had an outstanding balance on them. (Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, February 2009)
• Among the 35 percent of college students with credit cards that do not pay their balances in full every month, the average balance is $452. This is down 19 percent from 2007. Moreover, this balance is approximately one-third the size of the average balance for active nonstudent young adult accounts and one-fourth the size of active accounts for older adults. (Source: Student Monitor annual financial services study, 2008)
• As of 2007, the majority of U.S. households had no credit card debt. (Source: Federal Reserve Board survey of consumer finances, February 2009)
• About 40 percent of credit cardholders carry a balance of less than $1,000. About 15 percent are far less conservative in their use of credit cards and have total card balances in excess of $10,000. When you look at the total of all credit obligations combined (except mortgage loans), 48 percent of consumers carry less than $5,000 of debt. This includes all credit cards, lines of credit and loans -- everything but mortgages. Nearly 37 percent carry more than $10,000 of nonmortgage debt as reported to the credit bureaus. (Source: myfico.com)
• The typical consumer has access to approximately $19,000 on all credit cards combined. More than half of all people with credit cards are using less than 30 percent of their total credit card limit. Just over one in seven is using 80 percent or more of their credit card limit. (Source: myfico.com)

Debt as pct. of income

• The average credit card-indebted family in 2004 allocated 21 percent of its income to servicing monthly debt compared to the 13 percent dedicated to debt payments among all households. (Source: Demos.org, "Borrowing To Make Ends Meet," November 2007)
• In 2007, the average balance for those carrying a balance rose 30.4 percent, to $7,300. Meanwhile, the median balance -- meaning half owe more and half owe less -- for those carrying a balance rose 25.0 percent, to $3,000. These increases followed slower changes over the preceding three years, when the median increased 9.1 percent and the average climbed 16.7 percent. (Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, February 2009)
• Miami residents are the biggest overspenders, one study says. The 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas were ranked in terms of percent of median yearly household income owed to credit card companies and Miami residents owed 22.61 percent. Tampa (17.1 percent) and Los Angeles (16.81 percent) came in second and third, respectively. (Source: Forbes.com, Equifax and US Census Bureau, April 2009)

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Demographics

Asian-American

• Nearly two in three Asian-Americans reported having at least two credit cards. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009)
• Just 19 percent of Asian-Americans reported not having a credit card. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009)

African-American

• About one in three African-Americans -- 35 percent -- reported having at least two credit cards. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009)
• 49 percent of African-Americans reported not having a credit card. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009)
• 26 percent of Americans, or more than 58 million adults, admit to not paying all of their bills on time. Among African-Americans, this number is at 51 percent.? (Source: National Foundation for Credit Counseling, 2009 Financial Literacy Survey, April 2009)
• In 2004, of those with credit cards, 84 percent of African-American households carried credit card debt compared with 54 percent of white households. (Source: Demos.org, "Borrowing To Make Ends Meet," November 2007)
• Over 90 percent of African-American families earning between $10,000 and $24,999 had credit card debt. (Source: Demos.org study, November 2007)

Elderly

• About 50 percent of households headed by someone between?55 and 64 carry credit card?debt. And 37 percent of those?headed by someone between 65 and 74 carry credit card debt.?? (Source: Federal Reserve, "Survey of Consumer Finances,"?February 2009)
• in 1991, people 55 and older accounted for 8.2 percent of bankruptcy filings. By 2007, that number had almost tripled to 22.3 percent.? (Source: AARP, "Generations of Struggle,"?June 2008)
• Three in four cardholders age 60 or older always paid their credit card in full in the past 12 months. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009)?
• 80 percent of Americans 65 or older indicated they used a credit card in the month preceding the September 2008 survey. That's 13 points higher than any other age group. They also used debit cards far less than other age groups. Only 47 percent of those over 65 said they had used a debit card in the month before the survey, 19 points lower than any other age group. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• In the fourth quarter of 2008, consumers over 60 had an average balance of $763 per open bankcard or retail accounts. A year before, that balance was $746. The year before that, it was $735 -- meaning the average has jumped about 4 percent in 2 years. (Source: Experian marketing insight snapshot, March 2009)
• Individuals older than 60 have a significantly higher credit score than younger consumers. The U.S. average VantageScore? is 769. The average score rises to 837 when looking solely at the over-60 population. (Source: Experian marketing insight snapshot, March 2009)
• In the fourth quarter of 2008, consumers over 60 had an average of 5.6 open bankcard and retail accounts. The U.S. population as a whole had an average of 5.4

  Source: http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-industry-facts-personal-debt-statistics-1276.php?aid=2741cce8&rss_lnk=2

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SEC files charges against hedge fund founder Cohen

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Securities and Exchange Commission leveled its most direct shot against billionaire hedge-fund manager Steven A. Cohen on Friday by filing civil charges that accuse him of failing to prevent insider trading.

The SEC alleged that Cohen, who founded and runs SAC Capital Advisors, failed to prevent two of his portfolio managers from illegally reaping profits and avoiding losses of more than $275 million. Both managers provided information to Cohen in 2008 that suggested they had access to inside information, the SEC said. But rather than raise any red flags, Cohen praised one of the managers and rewarded the other with a $9 million bonus, the SEC said.

Cohen, 57, faces possible fines and could be barred from managing investor funds.

Cohen's firm, which once managed more than $15 billion in assets, is at the center of one of the biggest insider-trading fraud cases in history. Four employees have already been criminally charged with insider trading ? two of whom have pleaded guilty. And an SAC affiliate has agreed to pay $615 million to settle SEC charges of insider trading.

But legal experts said the SEC's action against Cohen on Friday suggests that the government may not have enough evidence to charge him with insider trading. And rather than seek higher penalties in a federal lawsuit, the SEC chose to bring the case against Cohen before an administrative law judge at the regulatory agency, where the legal burden of proof is lower.

"They've opted for the home court advantage," said John Coffee, a securities law professor at Columbia University.

Coffee said it is significant that the SEC did not charge Cohen with insider trading. That suggests none of his subordinates "flipped" and told investigators that they provided Cohen with information, he said.

A spokesman for SAC Capital said the allegations have "no merit" and that "Steve Cohen acted appropriately at all times." Spokesman Jonathan Gasthalter said Cohen would "vigorously" fight the charges.

The SEC said that Cohen received "highly suspicious information that should have caused any reasonable hedge fund manager in Cohen's position to take prompt action to determine whether employees under his supervision were engaged in unlawful conduct and to prevent violations of the federal securities laws."

The managers that the SEC said Cohen failed to supervise face criminal trials in November. Former SAC portfolio managers Mathew Martoma and Michael Steinberg have each pleaded not guilty to insider-trading charges.

Two other former portfolio managers at the firm, Donald Longueuil and Noah Freeman, pleaded guilty in 2011 to criminal insider-trading charges.

Jon Horvath, a former research analyst who worked for an affiliate of SAC and reported to Steinberg, pleaded guilty to securities fraud last year.

Martoma is accused of earning $9 million in bonuses after persuading a medical professor to leak secret data from an Alzheimer's disease trial between 2006 and 2008.

The SEC has alleged that Sidney Gillman, a doctor who moonlighted as a medical consultant, tipped drug safety data and negative drug trial results to Martoma two weeks before developers Elan Corp. and Wyeth made those results public in 2008. Martoma and CR Intrinsic then caused several hedge funds to sell more than $960 million in Elan and Wyeth securities in a little more than a week.

Steinberg is accused of earning more than $1.4 million illegally in connection with trades involving Dell and Nvidia in 2008 and 2009. The SEC said Steinberg had information about both companies ahead of their quarterly earnings announcements.

Cohen, who lives in Greenwich, Conn., is one of the highest profile figures in American finance and one of the world's richest men. He is among the handful of upper-tier hedge fund managers who pull in about $1 billion a year in compensation.

The SEC action against Cohen culminated a week in which the agency took significant enforcement moves involving prominent Wall Street figures. The actions could signal a new direction and strategy under SEC Chairman Mary Jo White, who assumed office in April.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, public and investor advocates have criticized the SEC for failing to hold high-level individuals on Wall Street accountable for misconduct. White pledged at her Senate confirmation hearing to pursue "all wrongdoers ? individual and institutional, of whatever position or size."

The SEC on Wednesday imposed a $13.9 million fine on Rajat Gupta, the former Goldman Sachs board member convicted of insider trading, to settle the agency's related civil charges.

At a closed meeting during the week, the SEC commissioners rejected a proposed $18 million settlement that would have banned billionaire hedge fund manager Philip Falcone from the securities industry for two years. The deal, which was agreed to by the SEC's enforcement staff, was voted down because it wasn't tough enough.

___

AP Business Writer Christopher S. Rugaber contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-07-19-US-SEC-Steven-Cohen-Charged/id-19020a6fe1c144ee9a459f3af8264ce0

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Limits on Attorney Use of Immigration Status in Washington

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Source: lawprofessors.typepad.com --- Thursday, July 18, 2013
AP reports that person?s legal status in the country can?t be used in civil cases by attorneys to intimidate or coerce under a new rule approved by the Washington Supreme Court last week. The Court amended the Rules of Professional... ...

Source: http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2013/07/limits-on-attorney-use-of-immigration-status-in-washington.html

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