FACTBOX: Equifax consumer credit trends for March

(Reuters) - Credit card companies accustomed to casting a wide net in trawling for customers are trying to reduce their exposure to rising delinquency and default rates, according to data from one of the largest U.S. credit bureaus.

In March, lenders closed 20 million card accounts, sending the total down by 58 million from a July 2008 peak to 380 million.

Equifax Inc's (EFX.N) March Credit Trends Report, drawn from 11 million credit profiles, was provided exclusively to Reuters.

* 4.7 percent of payments on bank-issued credit cards were at least 60 days late in March, an increase of 38.3 percent over last March.

* The number of credit cards from banks issued in January and February 2009 fell 38 percent from the same period in 2008. Equifax obtains this data after a one-month lag.

* Credit limits continued to fall as well, by $425 billion from a July peak of $3.59 trillion to $3.16 trillion in March.

* 39.2 percent of homeowners with subprime credit scores of 619 or lower were 30 days or more behind on their mortgages in March, up by 27.1 percent from a year before.

* Almost 7 percent of all homeowners were behind 30 days or more on their home mortgage loans, up 58.5 percent since last March.

* Of homeowners with prime credit scores of 620 or above, 1.2 percent were 30 or more days behind on their home mortgage loans in March, up from 0.6 percent a year earlier and up from 1.1 percent the prior month.

* Prime-level borrowers account for 84 percent of all mortgages.

* Home equity delinquencies of at least 30 days hit 3.4 percent of total balances in March, up 45 percent year-over-year.

* Total personal bankruptcy filings rose 42 percent year-over-year.

* Chapter 7 filings, which liquidate the assets of those unable to pay their debts, rose 57 percent compared with a year before.

* Chapter 13 filings, also called "wage-earners' bankruptcy." which establish payment plans for debtors, rose 11 percent.

(Reporting by Helen Chernikoff and Lucia Mutikani, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)