Credit Card Firms Have To Consider Income

Washington, DC, March 21, 2011 — The U.S. Federal Reserve has approved a rule that would require credit-card issuers to consider consumers’ individual incomes before extending credit.

Credit-card applications generally can’t request household income because that term is too vague to evaluate whether customers will be able to make the required payments on the accounts, according to a Fed statement.

The Fed said the rule is needed to prevent making credit available to consumers, such as students, who can’t make the payments.