Discover Card is running a full-page advertisement in the national media, telling Discover Card holders that they can earn a cash reward equal to their monthly interest fee if they make timely payments on their credit card debt six months in a row. Another way to look at it is to say people are enticed to do what they are supposed to do in the first place. What percentage of individuals and families want to play with fire while running the risk of 30-plus percent interest rates? Quite a few.

The value of credit card accounts at least 30 days late on their payments climbed to $17.3 billion in October 2007, a 26 percent increase over the previous year. Many of the major lenders also reported sharp rises of 50 percent or more in accounts that were at least 90 days delinquent, compared with a year ago. Back in August 2007 we reported that people would try to keep their credit cards current if their home mortgages were in doubt. Perhaps the crunch is getting worse?