Credit trends improve further

Delinquency rates in Target’s credit card receivables portfolio are looking better these days, with those who pay slow or not at all accounting for a steadily smaller percentage of outstanding balances. At the end of May, the percentage of accounts with three or more payments past due had declined to 5.2% compared with 5.3% in April and 6% a year ago. Meanwhile, more seriously delinquent accounts, those with four or more late payments, also declined to 3.7% of receivables compared with 3.8% in April and 4.3% the prior year.