User 68127

Winners and Losers from the Mortgage Mess

What happens if mortgage rates go up?

Standards are already being radically tightened, meaning that many who are still able to get a loan will be forced to pay higher rates and/or fees.

How Much Credit Is Too Much? Where AmEx Went Wrong

I have carried a Discover card for more than 20 years. Two or three times a year, a merchant will refuse to accept it, and then I just pull out my "prestigious" Mastercard instead. There is no fee and I get cash back. Of course, I probably do not dine at the same caliber of restaurant as some of the sophisticates, LOL!

Maybe I'm missing something, but I have never noticed any stigma attached to using Discover, not that I would care anyway. I do not live in a trailer, I have all my teeth, my wife does not have big hair, I DO take the kids to McDonald's occasionally...the fact that self-important snobs need a "higher class" card to validate their self-worth only makes me feel better about the card I choose to carry...

Credit Card Spending Surges, While Retailers Slump

On the other hand, maybe consumers are charging more on their credit cards because they aren't earning enough to pay for gas and food out of their paychecks, and because no one else will lend to them any more! Should this be extrapolated into greater long term growth by MA? Maybe it is just the last gasp of the dying consumer which would result in large charge-offs by credit card companies and lower transaction growth for MA and V?