Consumer Credit

Book the next flight to Paris, dahling, put all the fashionable fashion boutiques on alert. Oh, and leave the cash at home. Living it up has gotten a trifle more convenient now that a leading credit card issuer, MBNA America Bank of Wilmington, Del., has extended its credit limit to $100,000 on MasterCards and Visas.

The Federal Reserve Board postponed its November consumer credit report--originally due out Tuesday--as snow in the capital added to a backlog of economic indicators delayed by the government shutdown. No new date had been set, Fed spokesman Joseph Coyne said. Most federal offices in the District of Columbia and its suburbs remained closed after an Atlantic storm blanketed the region with more than 20 inches of snow.

The purchase of Experian Corp. by British retail and financial services giant Great Universal Stores has raised new questions about the sanctity and security of the millions of personal and business credit files that Orange-based Experian maintains in the U.S. Just five years ago, the entire credit reporting industry was embroiled in controversy over inaccurate data and loose controls over how information was disseminated and who got it.

U.S. consumer borrowing grew at the slowest pace in more than three years in August as demand for credit card and auto loans stalled, according to Federal Reserve Board figures released Monday. Americans' consumer credit rose $3.3 billion in August to $1.167 trillion, down from July's revised increase of $7.3 billion. Previously, the Fed said July borrowing rose $7.7 billion. Analysts had expected an August increase of $7.0 billion.

A leading credit information service is offering lenders a way to gauge loan risk by considering where borrowers live as well as how promptly they pay their bills, an approach that raises red flags for consumer groups. Equifax Inc. said its Bankruptcy Navigator system, introduced Wednesday, will give banks and other lenders one more tool to determine if they should charge higher interest, offer pre-approved credit cards, adjust lending limits or extend credit at all in areas with low ratings.

When the American Dream turns into a financial nightmare, Ginger Bengochea steps in. The kindly 58-year-old is often the last hope for the hopelessly indebted. A counselor with the nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Service in Santa Ana, she readily identifies with those who seek her help. She's been there. "I've been single for 26 years. I raised my children. At one point, between the IRS and credit cards, I was about $10,000 in debt. I had terror. I felt like I had no control.

The buy-now-pay-later generation is getting deeper into hot water, with late payments on credit cards jumping to a record high in the second quarter. The American Bankers Assn. said Tuesday that delinquent credit card accounts made up 3.66% of the total number of credit card accounts active between April and June. That figure is up from the 3.53% for the first three months of the year.

At 24, Miyuki, a sweet-faced bookworm, has just applied for bankruptcy protection. Say sayonara to the stereotype of Japan as a nation of compulsive savers. An estimated 10% of the population--mostly young people--is deeply in debt. Japan, where people once saved up for big purchases and then paid cash, has become a credit card society.

You know who you are: You've been living off your credit cards or your home equity credit line, or you borrowed to buy a car and now realize you can't really afford it, or, tragically, you've just lost your job or your spouse and can no longer pay what had been reasonable debts. It's a miserable situation, and you know what they say about misery loving company: You've apparently got plenty of it, because all sorts of lenders are reporting growing problems with deadbeat consumer borrowers.

Feeling pretty smug about those pre-approved credit card applications banks keep sending you? Impressed that your credit rating is that good? Don't be. The federal agency that regulates 2,800 national banks sent letters Thursday advising them that it would be better not to offer such credit without checking the person's credit-worthiness. The letter from the U.S.