However, a decline in competition in the retail payments market is now an issue in some countries like Sweden, where cash circulation is rapidly declining and society is becoming increasingly cashless.
For prime and near-prime mortgages, performance weakened somewhat in 2007, but generally remained fairly solid. The continued erosion in the quality of mortgage credit has led to an increase in initial foreclosure filings, with foreclosures rising the most in areas where home prices have fallen after an earlier period of rapid increase.