Card Issuers: How Can We Make You Go Away?

Consumers who carried a big balance and made the bare minimum payment each month used to be a credit-card issuer's dream. Now, they are their worst nightmare.

With defaults on the rise, credit-card issuers are employing all sorts of tactics to persuade consumers to reduce their balances and, ideally, close their accounts. Some issuers are using carrots: American Express is offering some cardholders a $300 gift certificate if they zero out their balance by April 30, and Citibank is offering to match a portion of the payments some cardholders make beyond the minimum amount due. Others are using sticks: Chase is tacking on a $10 monthly fee to the accounts of consumers who have carried a large balance for more than two years.