Performance and Regulatory Trends in the Credit
Card Sector

Abstract

The market appetite for credit card ABS (asset-backed securities) remains strong and continues to grow steadily. This has been driven in no small part by the strong performance of the credit card master trust portfolios. Meanwhile, on the regulatory front, clarification regarding fee limits, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CSFB’s) lifting of its limits on fees that credit card issuers may charge consumers before opening their credit cards, has brought clarity to various pricing aspects of the credit card industry. Enforcement actions by the CFPB during its first two years, however, have brought some uncertainty and threaten to restrict competition in the credit card industry.