Credit Card Statistics

Investment Analysis Clubs Macro Economic Trends and Risks
1

The credit card industry is immensely profitable; credit card issuers earned over $130 billion in interest and fees in 2022. Since then, the average annual percentage rate (APR) on credit cards that assessed interest has significantly increased.

60% carry a balance rather than paying it off in full each month. As of 2024, the average credit card balance was more than $6,700.

Credit card balances vary by age. Generation X — those between the ages of 44 and 59 — had the highest average balance at $9,557. By contrast, Generation Z and the Silent Generation — the youngest and oldest cohorts, respectively — had the lowest average balances at around $3,450.

Credit card delinquency rates have increased. At the end of 2024, approximately 7.2% of credit card balances became delinquent, incurring late fees and negative reports to the major credit bureaus.

1 Like
2

From a Macroeconomic viewpoint we should look at the overall burden of consumer debt.

Consumer Debt Service Payments as a Percent of Disposable Personal Income hit a high point in 2005. They declined after the 2008 Great Recession.

Consumer Debt Service Payments as a Percent of Disposable Personal Income stabilized after 2010, dropped during the Covid years due to government helicopter cash, but is now about the same level as the 2010s.

Although carrying a credit card balance is an expensive habit (I don’t indulge in) from a Macro standpoint people can handle it. The high balances of Gen X probably reflects their middle-aged burdens of being a “sandwich generation” --raising a family and taking care of elders at the same time.

Wendy

2 Likes