LITTLE ROCK — After the recession forced credit-card companies to purge their rosters of the riskiest loans, the industry is facing a new dilemma: customers who are too good.
Card issuers have long found their bread and butter in penalty fees and high interest rates paid by consumers who carry a balance. But that business model has been upended by the legions of consumers who were overwhelmed by debt when the recession hit, forcing the industry to write off billions of dollars in loans. In addition, new federal laws restrict how much card companies can charge risky customers.
Now, frugal-minded consumers are charging less on their credit cards, paying down their balances and steering clear of penalty fees - steps that are financially responsible but have the industry scrambling to find new ways to make money.
“The only true deadbeat customer is someone who has a card and never uses it,” said Curtis Arnold, who runs the credit-comparison site CardRatings.com. “Just having good credit alone in today’s market is not enough for that customer to be profitable.”
A new study by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that annual fees and service fees have increased over the past year while penalty charges - which are subject to thenew federal regulations - remained largely unchanged. Meanwhile, some cards are encouraging customers to charge more by offering enhanced rewards, allowingthe issuer to capture “swipe fees” paid by merchants. And one issuer even allegedly threatened to reject consumers with high credit scores because they didn’t boost the bottom line.
In a lawsuit filed last month, outdoor retailer Gander Mountain, based in Minnesota, claimed its creditcard partner, World Financial Network, was turning down shoppers with nearly perfect credit scores of 800 or above. Gander Mountain said the reason was because the issuer claimed it could not make money from those clients, which World Financial Network estimated as about a quarter of new applicants. That created “a negative customer experience” that could drive shoppers away, the suit said. Both Gander Mountain and the issuer’s parent company, Alliance Data, declined to comment on the suit.
Though industry experts say the case is extreme, it illustrates the challenges credit-card companies face. Issuers typically generate revenue from two sources, interest rates and fees. Congress has clamped down on both of those channels this year, including banning interestrate increases on outstanding balances and curtailing penalty fees for late payments and over-limit purchases. The new rules are estimated to cost the industry at least $12 billion annually, according to law firm Morrison & Foerster, and issuers have long warned that customers in good standing could wind up paying the bill.
“A lot of people thought they were blowing smoke,but they were spot on,” said John Ulzheimer, head of consumer education for Credit. com, a site that provides information about credit. “Now something has to give.”
Many issuers have homed in on fees that typically accompany rewards cards as a potential moneymaker. The Pew study, which was released Thursday, found that about 14 percent of bank credit cards have annual fees, about the same as last year. But the median annual fee for the 12 largest banks’ cards rose 18 percent to $59 over the past year. The cost of cash advances and balance transfers also rose from 3 percent to 4 percent.
Some consumers say they feel penalized for what they thought was good behavior. District of Columbia residentAlanna Sobel said she pays her balance in full each month and was surprised to get a letter from Chase, the nation’s largest card issuer, notifying her that the annual fee on her Freedom card would be $30. The letter stated that the fee had been waived the previous year and would allow her to receive 3 percent cash back on gas and grocery purchases. If she did not pay the fee, she would have to settle for fewer perks.
“It was very confusing,” Sobel said. “I was just frustrated and wanted to make sure I didn’t get charged an annual fee.”
A Chase spokesman said Sobel’s account was part of price testing that the issuer performed over the past year before relaunching itsFreedom card. The company eventually decided to drop the annual fee on the card - and the 3 percent cash back - to simplify the offer.
Ulzheimer of Credit.comsaid card companies won’t be able to hang too many fees on the strongest customers, because that may drive them to do business elsewhere.
“There’s a major competitive dynamic going on,” he said. But, “I can’t make enough by gouging the good to offset the bad.”
Business, Pages 69 on 07/25/2010