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Delinquent and defaulted credit card debt has been on the decline for some time now, and new data suggests that instances of both are tied very closely to unemployment rates.

As the effects of the recession slip away and employers continue to expand their hiring practices, it’s expected that consumers will make more on-time payments into their various credit card debts, according to new data from the Mercator Advisory Group. When the recession began, instances of both charge offs and early-stage delinquency spiked at the same times unemployment did, and since it ended, both have moved slowly downward.

Now, both of these financial concerns are standing at or near all-time lows for all of the nation’s largest lenders, the report said. However, some experts note that even if unemployment continues to fall from its somewhat elevated state, there must be a logical bottoming-out in charge offs and delinquencies.

This is particularly true because improving credit conditions have allowed lenders to expand issuing to subprime borrowers. In many cases, these consumers are those who ran into financial trouble in the past and ended up having to seek some form of debt relief.

One of the nation’s largest lenders and payment processors found that consumers took on more credit card debt but fell behind on payments less often between March and May.

In that three-month period, Discover Financial Services saw both the dollar value of purchases on its branded credit cards and the number of transactions it processed rise 5 percent, according to a report from the Associated Press. Consumers put some $26.1 billion on their cards during that time, and balances consequently grew 4 percent to a total of $46.6 billion overall.

However, the company also saw instances of both delinquency and default slip to all-time lows during this time, the report said. Accounts 30 days behind on payments fell to just 1.91 percent of all balances from 2.79 percent, and those so far behind they were written off as uncollectable fell to 2.79 percent from 5.01 percent.

Consumers who have more credit card than they can handle and end up falling behind on their bills may want to consider the benefits that seeking debt relief services can provide them.

Consumers continued to make on-time payments into their outstanding credit card debt in May, despite experts' predictions that late accounts might increase.

Economic indicators such as a disappointing jobs report ledsome experts to speculate that instances of both delinquency and default would increase for the nation's top six credit card lenders in May, but that didn't happen, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. In fact, only Discover Financial Services saw any increase at all, and that was a small one in its charge off rate. In fact, that increase was so incremental – to 2.65 percent of all balances from 2.6 percent in April – that it was below typical seasonal fluctuations.

Further, lenders are reining in their attempts to market new accounts to consumers as a result of these economic factors, the report said. Some believe this may further delay increases in delinquency and default in the near future.

Falling behind on credit card payments can be a troubling behavior for consumers, and those who do so may want to seek some form of debt relief as a result.

The rate at which consumers fell behind on paying down credit card debt continued to generally improve in April, but the charge off rate seen by the nation's top lenders increased because of an anomaly with one issuer's schedule.

Due to a quirk with its calendar, Citi had an additional three days in April to write off seriously late credit card payments as uncollectable, and as such, the charge off rate for the nation's top lenders spiked for the first time this year in April, according to new statistics from Fitch Ratings. In all, the charge off rate for these financial institutions climbed to 5.44 percent from 5.17 percent, but would have remained flat if not for Citi's added time.

At the same time, the rate of late-stage delinquencies – those accounts 60 days or more behind – slipped to a low not seen in 17 years, the report said. These balances accounted for just 2.03 percent of all handled by the major lenders, down from 2.14 percent in the same month last year.

Consumers who fall behind on their credit card payments may need to seek some form of debt relief to get out from under the financial burdens they face.

The recent economic downturn caused many consumers to reassess the ways in which they dealt with credit card debt, and millions seem to have been successful in slashing their reliance on their accounts.

Between 2007 and 2010, the amount of credit card debt carried by the average American family as a portion of their total outstanding balances took a significant tumble to just 2.9 percent, down from 3.5 percent, according to new data from the Federal Reserve Board's most recent Survey of Consumer Finances. Further, the percentage of families nationwide who carried a balance on these accounts declined to 39.4 percent of all households, down from 46.1 percent three years prior.

And those who carried a balance were also able to successfully cut them, the report said. The median balance from those who carried one fell about 16.1 percent to just $2,600, and the average balance dropped 7.8 percent to $7,100.

Many consumers also saw seriously delinquent credit card accounts written off by lenders as uncollectable during this time, and those who did so may have had to seek out various forms of debt relief.

Though consumers are now being far more cautious about dealing with credit card debt, they are still relying on those accounts, and their debit cards, more often than cash when making purchases from retailers.

Debit and credit, respectively, have both surpassed cash and checks as the most common type of payments at real-world retail stores in the U.S., according to new data from Javelin Strategy and Research. Further, over the next several years, both card-related payment methods are expected to grow even more popular and increase their share of total transaction volume, thanks in large part to an increase in use for both prepaid cards and mobile wallet credit card platforms.

Further, it's expected that credit card purchases will continue to increase in volume as the economy improves over the next five years, the report said. In all, retail purchases at real-world point of sale locations, rather than online, total about $3.8 trillion annually, and make up roughly 96 percent of all sales in the U.S.

Many consumers have been more careful with their outstanding balances since the recession, when many faced financial trouble and needed to seek some amount of debt relief.

The amount consumers owed in credit card debt fell in April, in keeping with the recent trend of fluctuations in these balances from one month to the next.

Consumers' balances on revolving credit accounts – that is, balances that can be added to and subtracted from between one month and another, most commonly associated with credit cards – shrank 4.8 percent in April when compared with the same month last year, according to the latest statistics from the Federal Reserve Board. Now, the total balances on those accounts stand at $862.3 billion, down from March's $865.7 billion, but still slightly higher than the $862 billion observed at the end of February.

However, the total amount consumers owed still rose as more sought education financing and auto loans, the report said. In all, non-revolving credit jumped 7.1 percent, but due to the declines in credit card balances, overall consumer credit increased at the slowest rate seen in six months.

Consumers have been trying to get their finances in order for some time now, and many have sought numerous types of debt relief as a means of doing so.

These days, millions of senior citizens are struggling with credit card debt and other sizable balances that can make their lives more difficult in retirement.

A number of reports have come out in recent months detailing the struggles seniors and Baby Boomers have faced in the last several years when it comes to dealing with outstanding debts, according to a report from McClatchy Newspapers. For instance, the average amount owed by consumers age 55 and up between all their outstanding balances increased to $70,370 in 2007, more than double the amount observed in 1992, according to new data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Further, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently reported that consumers aged 50 and up owed 17 percent of the nation's outstanding credit card debt, the report said. And public policy group Demos recently noted that the average amount owed on credit cards owned by consumers 65 and older rose to $10,235 in 2008, up from $8,138 just three years earlier.

Significant outstanding debts of any kind can be difficult for seniors to bear because they live on fixed incomes, and can create a financial emergency that may necessitate them to seek out debt relief.

These days, millions of consumers remain uninsured or have healthcare plans that do not cover certain expenses, and these must be covered out of pocket. However, many are choosing to put the resultant bills on their credit cards, leading to more credit card debt.

A recent survey by Demos found that close to half of all low- and middle-income households in the U.S. are carrying debt from the out of pocket medical expenses they've faced, according to a report from the New York Times. As a consequence, the average amount of medical debt carried on their credit cards stood at $1,678.

In all, about 75 percent of households that carried debt faced some kind of out of pocket medical expense in the last three years, and 62 percent of those who did said they took on credit card debt to cover it, the report said. The median amount of these accumulated balances was $800.

Consumers who face significant medical bills may end up having to seek out debt relief options, particularly if they put those balances on their credit cards.

Now that the economy has made significant strides over the last year and a half and millions of consumers are once again feeling good about their personal finances, many might feel they are in a position to begin dealing with credit carddebt once again.

As a result of this new trend, many major national retailers are now choosing to increase the values of their offers to consumers for store-branded credit cards, according to Consumer Reports Money Adviser. In the past, the most valuable perks store-brand credit cards offered to borrowers was the ability to receive a discount of 20 or 30 percent on checkout, but only for the day they signed up. But now, many major store chains are choosing to offer perks such as a 0 percent introductory rate for the first several months the account is open, cash back rewards, ongoing discounts for all purchases made at the store, and other incentives.

The benefit of store-branded cards is that in most cases, they carry the logo of a major card issuer such as Visa, MasterCard or American Express, meaning that they can be used to make purchases elsewhere as well, the report said. This can be extremely beneficial when it comes to earning cash back for purchases at other locations, not just the store that issued the account.

Perhaps the most generous of these accounts is Costco's American Express card, the report said. It offers a 0 percent interest rate on purchases for the first six months the account is open, and it only increases to 15.24 percent after that, well below the interest rates offered on other major retailers' offerings. Further, it also grants 3 percent cash back on fuel purchases up to $3,000 per year – and 1 percent after that – plus 2 percent cash back on travel, and 1 percent on all other purchases.

But because these are retailer-issued cards, it's even more important to read the fine print on an agreement, the report said. For instance, the Walmart card says that it offers 1 percent cash back, but that's only after giving just 0.25 percent cash back for the first $1,500 worth of purchases, and 0.5 percent after reaching $3,000 in spending in a given year.

Consumers with retailer-issued cards will have to be aware that they usually come with high interest rates, which may result in their having to seek out debt relief.