Are credit card and auto loan defaults going to be as bad as home mortgage defaults?
A. Those delinquencies have increased. Whether it is a credit card or an auto loan or real estate, the real driver is whether the customer has enough to make the payment. Delinquencies on all the products increase if the customers aren’t working, so it is always tougher for people to pay when they don’t have money. If they are unemployed, they are going to have more challenges. We recognize that. Our origination volumes are a little lower than they had been, and we’re as well-prepared for (defaults) as we can be. We’re comfortable with the level of reserves we have, given our expectations for future losses. Q. How are you helping your employees through these turbulent times? A. With a lot of communication. It is really important for me and all our leaders to listen to team members and make sure we know what’s on their minds, so we can respond. I try to get out and do Q&A sessions with the team. We recently kicked off what we call “an open line” and I periodically send off an e-mail to
