ARLINGTON, Va. — It's unclear what impact a growth in defaultsamong credit cardholders generally will necessarily have on holdersof credit union issued cards, analysts said.

An August 31 report in the Financial Times said that latepayments are also up and that credit card companies have writtenoff 30% more payments in the first six months of this year than thefirst six months of last.

But according to NCUA data, CU credit card performance throughthe first six months of the year has been robust and credit cardanalysts have said that, in general, credit union's moreconservative underwriting and card portfolio management strategiesshould shield CU card portfolios from many of the problemsbesetting the industry generally.