Though many Americans have been conscientious in recent years about the amount of credit card debt they carried, there was a spike in revolving credit in the month of March as more consumers carried a balance from one month to the next, according to the latest statistical release on consumer credit from the Federal Reserve Board. In all, the amount of debt owed on these accounts by consumers nationwide spiked 7.8 percent to a total of $803.6 billion in March, up from $798.5 billion in February.

Consumers nationwide continued to feel better about the approach their credit card lenders take to customer service and were therefore more likely to forgive any missteps they felt they experienced in dealing with those companies, according to the latest annual Forgiveness Ratings issued by the Temkin Group. Forgiveness is the key element of customer loyalty, and is based on the functionality, accessibility and emotional factors consumers experience in dealing with companies.

Women are both more likely to mishandle their credit card accounts and simultaneously have fewer positive behaviors than men, according to a new study from the independent securities regulator FINRA. Perhaps the most troubling data to come out of the survey found that 60 percent of women and 55 percent of men typically carried a balance on their accounts from one month to the next - the most common credit misstep consumers made.

Late last month, lawmakers in Congress held a pair of hearings on the topic of the necessity for regulation of the mobile payment industry, weighing arguments on both sides of the issue, according to a report from American Banker. On the one hand, some experts have noted that because mobile payments are expected to become more or less ubiquitous within the next three years or so, it may be necessary for both consumers and the companies pushing these payment platforms to have as much of an understanding and regulatory presence in place as soon as possible.