LowCards.com

[Greg Hampton]

Q: In the months leading up to the new credit-card law, banks cut the number of cards by 15 percent and cut the amount of available credit by $1 trillion. Doesn't that hurt consumers, given the evidence you've seen about the growing importance of credit cards?


A: That would result in a drop of about 20 points. I understand the reason for the concern. But there's lots of statistical evidence that people who are at or near their limits, regardless of how they got there, whether it's your fault or the bank's fault, are higher risk. And that's all that the 20-point drop is saying. But after several months of demonstrating that you're not tipping over that line, then your FICO score tends to return to its prior level.


Full story by Eileen AJ Connelly for the AP
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2010/03/03/consumers-count-on-credit.html?sid=101