by Joseph Kenny | 06/9/09

In the past, those Americans who were credit cardholders didn't worry so much when finances were strained since they could expect low minimum payments on their credit cards.

For most, this meant a measly 2% of your total balance. Sure, you didn't make much progress paying on the principal but you could keep your card payments current. Yet, things have changed.

The situation has changed in a profound ways. Today, the country-the world-is dealing with the effects of the recent economic crisis. Cardholders, like everyone else, may be reeling from a job loss or other aspects of the recession. As a result, many still are unable to make the minimum payments, increasing delinquencies to new highs.

According to the Fitch Credit Card Index, which is responsible for measuring the percentage of card receivables that have been reported more than 60 days past due. Currently the delinquency index has increased to 36% in the last six months.

The rate of uncollectible credit card debt or charge-offs rose to 8.82% back in February, the highest it's been in twenty years. This figure was provided by Moody's Credit Card Index.

Despite the best efforts of legitimate credit counseling agencies over the years to help people negotiate repayment plans, there are problems. Even the concessions offered by creditors such as waivers for late and over-the-limit fees as well as interest rate reductions are not enough to cope with the current debt climate. Customers are so deep that they cannot reasonably qualify for the typical repayment plans.

A staggering 405,000 cardholders were turned down for repayment plans in 2008 according to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. These figures have prompted the NFCC to provide help to those people who are sincerely interested in honoring their commitments to creditors. The organization has brokered a deal with the U.S.'s top 10 credit-card issuers to offer consumers two specialized debt-repayment programs.

There are both standard and hardship plans that include fixed monthly payments and set goal for participants to be out of debt within a 60-month period. Each plan includes payment terms based on a percentage of the outstanding debt. This is only one aspect of the plans.