Finally after so many years of encouraging and tricking consumers to load up on debt, the credit card industry is now offering credit cards that actually help consumers to manage their debt. JP Morgan’s new credit card, Blueprint, features help for consumers to manage their debt. Consumers are able to track their own spending in order to pay in full of what they owe each month. They also give online help and tools for consumers to manage their own repayment plan.

The Blueprint card is available to JP Morgan Chase customers who are offered a grace period of free interest on everyday items, so long as the customer chooses those categories in advance and pay in full at the end of the month.

While JP Morgan Chase still encourage its customers to spend, other credit card providers such as Well Fargo and Discover have released a new tool for their consumers such as online budgeting and debt management tools.

Even without today’s recession, credit card providers should be concerned about consumer debts. Credit card defaults have hit record high which destroys the credit card’s industry’s balance sheet. Obviously when a customer are too deep in debt and can not pay, that will cut the company’s profits. Since the recession, the highest rates of customers who defaulted on their credit card in August 2009 were from Bank of America and Citigroup.

Many analysts and economic forecasters expect that the bad-loan levels will keep rising until 2010. Even until August 2009, banks have experienced an increase of charge off rates, which is loans that the companies do not expect to be repaid. The highest charge off rates belongs to Citigroup and Bank of America who are also the greatest recipient of the government bail-out money. Judging from the increase of unemployment and delinquencies, analysts estimates that credit card losses will still continue and even rise in the next coming months.

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