Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) said on Wednesday that its charge-off rate for credit cards increased during the month of August, ending four months of declining charge-off rates.
Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) said in a regulatory filing that tis charge-off rate rose to 11.72% of balances in the month of August, up from 11.39% during the month of July. Bank of America’s charge-off rate peaked in December 2009.
During the last two years, Bank of America and other banks have written off record amounts of credit card debt as consumers have failed to make payments during a period of high unemployment. Bank of America and other credit card companies typically write off a loan after its late more than 180 days of non-payment.
Bank of America said in its report that charge-off rates may not indicate a broader trend. The company said that the rate of payments which were 30 days or more late continued to fall during the month of August, to 5.68%, down from 5.92% in July.
Bank of America Corporation is a bank holding company, and a financial holding company. The Company is a financial institution, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses, large corporations and governments with a range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. Through its banking subsidiaries (the Banks) and various nonbanking subsidiaries throughout the United States and in selected international markets, it provides a range of banking and nonbanking financial services and products through six business segments: Deposits, Global Card Services, Home Loans & Insurance, Global Banking, Global Markets, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), with the remaining operations recorded in All Other. On January 1, 2009, the Company completed the acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
Shares of Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) traded down 0.15% during mid-day trading on Friday.
