Late card payments decline to 15-year low

NEW YORK — First-quarter late payments on credit cards fell this year to the lowest since 1996, TransUnion said Tuesday.

The rate of payments 90 days or more past due dropped to 0.74 percent in the first quarter from 1.11 percent a year ago. The delinquency rate peaked in the first quarter of 2009 at 1.32 percent.