Comments on: Why is the Fed so bank-friendly on credit cards? http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/06/02/why-is-the-fed-so-bank-friendly-on-credit-cards/ A slice of lime in the soda Thu, 23 May 2013 20:58:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: fresnodan http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/06/02/why-is-the-fed-so-bank-friendly-on-credit-cards/comment-page-1/#comment-15426 fresnodan Thu, 03 Jun 2010 18:53:39 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/?p=4086#comment-15426 I am just curious as to what action the FED has EVER taken that could be interpreted as bank unfriendly? I am just curious as to what action the FED has EVER taken that could be interpreted as bank unfriendly?

]]> By: TRKAdvisors http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/06/02/why-is-the-fed-so-bank-friendly-on-credit-cards/comment-page-1/#comment-15376 TRKAdvisors Wed, 02 Jun 2010 21:54:33 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/?p=4086#comment-15376 Most small business credit cards are underwritten primarily on the personal credit of the applicant, so they are much more difficult to get than they used to be (as are all credit cards). It is unlikely that business cards will be wideley sought after by individuals or that banks will market them as a back door way to avoid living with consumer card rules. And whether one agrees with the concept of constraining card issuer behavior or not (and to what degree), the manner and degree to which the Fed insituted new card rules in an industry already hemorrhagging money had exactly the predictable consequences: credit became more expensive and harder to obtain for many consumers. Whether they can say it or not, the Fed may have decided that they don't want to further raise credit prices and constrain availability by exporting consumer rules to the business card side of the equation (which, I believe, saw even higher default rates than the consumer side over the past few years, so it's no shining star on bank balance sheets already). Most small business credit cards are underwritten primarily on the personal credit of the applicant, so they are much more difficult to get than they used to be (as are all credit cards). It is unlikely that business cards will be wideley sought after by individuals or that banks will market them as a back door way to avoid living with consumer card rules.

And whether one agrees with the concept of constraining card issuer behavior or not (and to what degree), the manner and degree to which the Fed insituted new card rules in an industry already hemorrhagging money had exactly the predictable consequences: credit became more expensive and harder to obtain for many consumers. Whether they can say it or not, the Fed may have decided that they don’t want to further raise credit prices and constrain availability by exporting consumer rules to the business card side of the equation (which, I believe, saw even higher default rates than the consumer side over the past few years, so it’s no shining star on bank balance sheets already).

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