Chase credit cards' Blueprint to help users manage their debt

— -- After years of encouraging consumers to load up on debt, the card industry is trying a novel tactic: helping borrowers manage their debt. Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase plans to unveil new credit card features that even critics are applauding as a shift in how consumers can track and manage purchases, as well as pay off debt.

The centerpiece of the free offering, called Blueprint, is a feature that allows consumers to avoid paying interest on everyday purchases — such as groceries — even while accumulating interest on other purchases. Other features allow borrowers to track spending and create payment plans to whittle down debt.

Other issuers have launched similar, if less ambitious, products. Wells Fargo and Discover have rolled out online budgeting or debt-management tools. American Express has begun a national advertising campaign to deliver the message that its charge card — which consumers pay in full each month — is "right for the times," says Jud Linville, the chief executive of consumer services.

Amid the recession, issuers have reason to be concerned about consumer debt loads. Credit card defaults and delinquencies have hit records, roiling the industry's balance sheet. When consumers take on too much debt and can't pay, that cuts into issuers' profits, says Ron Shevlin, a senior analyst at researcher Aite Group.

Linda Sherry, director of national priorities at Consumer Action, an advocacy group, has criticized Chase's fees and rates in the past year. Nevertheless, she calls its new offering "revolutionary" because it "rewrites the rules on credit card use."

With traditional credit cards, if consumers don't pay in full, interest accumulates on the entire balance from the purchase date. But the Blueprint feature — available to 20 million Chase customers — allows borrowers to keep an interest-free grace period for everyday items, as long as they choose those categories in advance and pay them in full each month.