Chase card late payments, defaults fall again

NEW YORK (AP) — Chase on Thursday said the rates at which its customers were late with credit card payments and defaults continued to decline in August.

The card division of JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in a regulatory filing that it wrote off as unpaid 4.67 percent of credit card balances on an annualized basis last month, down from 4.78 percent in July.

That's the lowest point the New York-based bank has reported defaults, known as charge-offs in the industry, since September 2008, and significantly below the 10.91 percent rate the nation's largest credit card issuer reported in January 2010, when its customer defaults reached their peak.

Credit card issuers typically write off balances as uncollectible after they reach six months past due.

Chase also reported that payments late by 30 days or more, known as delinquencies, dropped to 2.48 percent of balances in August, from 2.52 percent in July.

A card issuer's delinquency rate is important because it's considered an indicator of future default.

Shares of JPMorgan Chase rose 65 cents, or 2 percent, to $33.45 in morning trading.

Tags: business, money