Capital One is cutting borrowing limits on credit cards, with many customers concerned they cannot now access credit in an emergency during a pandemic or potentially hurting their credit scores.

The firm says it "periodically reviews accounts based on a variety of factors and may make changes to existing credit lines".

Capital One is the third-largest US credit card lender and, says the Bloomberg report:

  • pioneered the business of offering cards to people with riskier profiles, putting it at the vanguard of the industry's response to downturns. Its management of credit is watched closely as a harbinger of what's to come at other major banks.

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Support for the unemployed is diminishing the longer Congress remains deadlocked in negotiations.