American Express saw first quarter profits decline 6%, after the number of cardholders failing to pay off their debts increased.
Profits for the three months to 31 March fell to $991m from $1.06bn a year earlier, but beat forecasts.
The firm set aside $1.27bn for credit losses during the period, representing a 48% increase year-on-year.
But while profits fell in the US, the profits overseas rose and the firm expects such growth to continue.
“While we continue to be cautious about the US economy, we are encouraged by our performance internationally,” said chief executive Kenneth Chenault.
US card service profits fell 19% to $523m but international profits climbed 30% to $133m.
Shares in the firm added 3% in after hours trading.
A handful of mortgage lenders are being inundated with applications as competitive deals become increasingly rare.
Mortgage comparison website mform.co.uk said up to six out of 10 applications from both home movers and people remortgaging made through its site had been to just three lenders during the past month.
The group said between March 15 and April 18 up to 60% of all mortgage applications it handled were for home loans with The Principality, West Bromwich Building Society and the Co-operative Bank.
It added that just 17 out of 90 lenders dominated applications through its service during the past month, but before the credit crunch struck more than half of lenders had deals that could be considered to be competitive, attracting a significant amount of business.
The group said HSBC had seen a surge in applications, particularly since it launched an offer under which it will match rates for people coming off fixed-rate mortgages, as had First Direct, which stopped writing mortgages for new customers on April 1 after being inundated with applications.
Other lenders that have featured prominently in applications being lodged include Halifax and Norwich & Peterborough Building Society.
The group said the recent market turmoil, which has seen lenders hike their rates and pull products that are attracting too much business, is leading to consolidation in the market.
It added that the Co-operative Bank, HSBC, Principality and West Bromwich Building Society featured as the cheapest lender on a true cost basis in 67% of searches done by customers on its site.
The Bank of England said yesterday it will exchange about 50 billion pounds ($100 billion) of government bonds for mortgage securities, mimicking a swap of $200 billion worth of securities by the U.S. Federal Reserve last month. Brown, whose popularity fell the most on record in a newspaper poll published April 13, said “we will make sure there is enough liquidity in the economy to make sure people can buy their own houses.”
While Goodhart says the Bank of England’s plan doesn’t back up that guarantee, it may do enough to take the sting out of any economic slowdown.
Possible Recession
“The credit crunch will still hit the economy, but it might have hurt more if it weren’t for these measures,” said Goodhart, 71, who served on the MPC from 1997 to 2000. “The measures prevent the risk of a possible recession becoming a depression.”
Goodhart is the author of “Goodhart’s Law,” which holds that targeting monetary aggregates as a surrogate for inflation is futile.
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistar Darling will meet mortgage executives at 3 p.m. today in London and so far there are few signs of a coordinated effort to slash lending rates. While Abbey National, Britain’s second-largest mortgage lender, said yesterday it’s reducing rates on some adjustable loans, it also raised them for borrowers who make deposits of less than 10 percent.