Intuit Credit Karma
Still, debt settlement can be the last hope -- and it can work -- for people who are hopelessly behind on payments with no expectation to pay down their debt, says Ken Lin, CEO of Credit Karma, which offers free credit scores and reports.
CreditKarma.com, a Web site that provides credit information, reported that its "U.S. Credit Score Climate Report" data show that consumer credit card debt has decreased 3 percent since January.
In the first few days, more than 5,000 had clicked on the link, with more than 2,800 completing the registration process. That is a huge win for the members, the credit union, and Credit Karma.
Hawaii consumers decreased credit card debt by 8 percent in August, according to the credit advocate Creditkarma.com.
Arkansas has the lowest credit score at 640, according to Ken Lin, president of Credit Karma. The San Francisco-based company tracks financial data and offers advice.
[Kansas City] Metro-area credit scores improved to 683 last month, up three points from January, according to San Francisco-based CreditKarma.com's U.S. Credit Score Climate Report.
San Francisco-based Credit Karma, which tracks such things, blamed this quixotic circumstance on "a strange mix of economic conditions."
"This month's data succinctly illustrates the correlation between debt and credit score," CreditKarma CEO Ken Lin said in a release. "Consumers have charged more on their credit cards and as a result, credit scores are lower. We suspect as consumers begin to pay down their debts, credit scores will start to increase again."
Many banks are responding to the trend [payment volume for debit cards exceeded credit cards] by adding rewards programs and other features to their debit cards, says Ken Lin, chief executive of Credit Karma, a website that provides free credit scores.