Despite the credit crunch, CompuCredit had some positive news in the 3rd quarter. "CompuCredit once again experienced tremendous account growth as we added over 500,000 net new customer accounts through a variety of distribution channels," said David G. Hanna, CompuCredit chairman and CEO. "We also executed $500 million in capital markets funding during the quarter and continue to focus on ways to deploy our capital in ways that generate strong returns for our shareholders."

The riskiest consumers -- subprime -- and the packaging of loans into securities for sale have been at the heart of mortgage meltdown and credit crunch of 2007. Borrowers of those loans have become increasingly unable to repay, and CompuCredit wasn't immune. It has reported higher delinquencies and defaults among its customers this year, and is being forced to keep more cash in reserve to protect against potential losses.

CompuCredit's products include credit cards, receivables (debt collection), payday loans and "buy here/pay here" auto loans. Much as subprime mortgage lenders originate housing loans and then sell them in bundles to investors, CompuCredit finances most of its credit card receivables by selling them to a "securitization vehicle," such as a trust, that then sells participation interests to other investors.