American Express and Other Banks Are Pumping the Brakes on Balance Transfer Deals

In uncertain times, lenders tend to focus on the types of loans that have the lowest risk of loss, and trim back on issuing types more liable to wind up delinquent -- or be defaulted on -- if the economy worsens. Thus far in the COVID-19 pandemic, many banks have already stopped accepting applications for home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), and some have significantly raised their lending standards for mortgages.

It looks like credit card lending will be the next area to see a similar tightening.

Specifically, several credit card companies appear to have adopted more selective standards for 0% APR balance transfer offers, if they are even still making them at all. American Express (NYSE: AXP) has reportedly stopped offering balance transfer deals altogether, while other leading credit card lenders such as JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), and Capital One (NYSE: COF) are dramatically reducing their balance transfer deals.

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Source Fool.com