The Sacramento Bee newspaper reported in early May that according to the major credit rating agency Moody’s, defaults on credit card payments are about to hit their lowest level in 20 years. Credit card defaults will reach a 20-year low by next year, Moodys Investors Service said Monday, as card issuers remain choosier in their lending practices.

For the past few years card companies have dealt with billions of dollars worth or lost revenue due to uncollectible credit card debt. They made it harder to get credit card applications approved, they raised penalties and rates, and they lowered lines of credit for their customers. But it appears now that with the worst behind them these card companies are once again back in business and eager to offer cards and credit.

For the past couple of years, for examples, defaults added up to a grand total of nearly $75 billion in losses – and that was at just six of the biggest banks and card companies like Amex, Citi, Chase, Bank of America, Capital One, and Discover. But the momentum of charge-offs or defaults finally hit a crescendo during the middle of 2010, and now the tide seems to have turned with calmer seas in the financial forecast. Because of tighter lending standards, Moodys anticipates that the default rate will be less than four percent of total balances next year, despite the lingering levels of high unemployment and a slow economic recovery.

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