DBRS Assigns Provisional Ratings of AAA (sf) and BBB (sf) to Master Credit Card Trust, Series 2012-1

DBRS has today assigned provisional ratings to the Credit Card Receivables-Backed Notes, Series 2012-1 (the Notes) to be issued by Master Credit Card Trust (the Trust) as follows:

– AAA (sf) to the Credit Card Receivables-Backed Class A Notes, Series 2012-1
– BBB (sf) to the Credit Card Receivables-Backed Class B Notes, Series 2012-1

The finalization of the ratings is contingent upon receipt of final documents conforming to information already received.

The ratings are based on the following factors:

(1) For the Class A Notes, credit enhancement will be available through subordination of 5.5%, excess spread and the Cash Collateral Account, which could build up to 5%.

(2) For the Class B Notes, credit enhancement will be available through excess spread and the Cash Collateral Account.

(3) Over the past three years, three-month average payment rates have been strong, averaging about 37%, and three-month average gross yields have been stable at greater than 21%. While the three-month average loss rate peaked at 5.0% in March 2010, it has since been steadily declining and stood at 3.9% as of November 2011, one of the lowest in Canada. While current loss rates remain elevated compared with the experience prior to the recent financial crisis, this is mitigated by excess spread, which is expected to provide a solid first defense against credit losses.

(4) Bank of Montreal (BMO) offers a successful loyalty program and it has the experience and demonstrated ability to manage the largest MasterCard portfolio in Canada.

(5) The receivables are seasoned and well diversified.

DBRS stress testing indicates that simultaneous declines in yield and payment rates and increases in losses would not result in a failure of the Trust to repay the Notes on a timely basis. The severity of the tests applied is commensurate with the respective ratings of the Notes.

DBRS’s partial commingling policy for revolving asset pools has been incorporated for the Trust. DBRS believes that the partial commingling provisions mitigate potential losses to the Noteholders and also provide clarification to market participants with respect to the collection process if the seller/servicer is financially weakened.

Notes:
All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

The Rule 17g-7 Report of Representations and Warranties is hereby incorporated by reference and can be found by clicking on the link to the right under Related Research or by contacting us at info@dbrs.com.

The applicable methodologies are DBRS Criteria for Canadian Credit Card Securitization and Legal Criteria for Canadian Structured Finance, which are available on our website under Methodologies.