Late Payers At BofA Hit A 12-Month Low

Bank of America Corp. said this week that late payments on credit card loans fell to 7.35% in January, the lowest in a year.

Loans at least 30 says overdue, an indicator of future chargeoffs, declined from 7.44% in December, according to a regulatory filing by the Charlotte company.

Delinquencies of 30 days to 59 days, the earliest gauge of overdue payments, fell to 1.7% from 1.8% in December. Writeoffs of uncollectible loans declined to 13.25% from 13.53%, the lender reported.

Default rates for the industry set an all-time high last year as the unemployment rate topped 10%, making it harder for consumers to keep up with payments.

At least two rival card companies reported higher delinquencies this week.

Capital One Financial Inc., the third-biggest issuer of Visa credit cards, said its 30-day delinquency rate increased to 5.8% in January from 5.78%; writeoffs increased to 10.41% from 10.14%.

Discover Financial Services Inc. said its 30-day delinquency rate increased to 5.55% from 5.49%, and writeoffs declined to 8.58% from 8.68% in December.