US credit card debt hits record $1.29 trillion, New York Fed reports

Americans’ credit card debt reached a record $1.29 trillion in the third quarter, according to a new report published by the New York Fed.

Falling behind on credit card payments can trap struggling households in a cycle of fees, credit score downgrades, and increasingly expensive borrowing.

Although delinquency rates across the country have shown improvement, the latest figures indicate that financial distress is concentrated in lower-income communities.

Consumer credit card balances rose by $22 billion in the third quarter, representing an increase of 1.7%. This figure is $52 billion higher than it was a year earlier.

The figures are not adjusted for inflation, which may mean that part of the increase reflects rising prices rather than more borrowing in real terms.

Total household debt, which includes mortgages, student loans, and auto loans, rose by $334 billion in the third quarter to reach a record $19.1 trillion.

This total represents an increase of $5 trillion compared to 2019, just before the pandemic.

The volume of credit card balances falling into serious delinquency is declining, indicating some improvement in Americans’ ability to make their payments on time.

The rate of credit card debt transitioning into serious delinquency fell to 6.9% in the third quarter. However, this rate remains distinctly higher than the 5.2% recorded prior to the pandemic.

Americans living in lower-income neighbourhoods are facing greater difficulty in keeping up with their credit card payments compared to more affluent groups, according to a separate report published by the New York Fed on Tuesday.

Delinquency rates across all neighbourhood income tiers remain above pre-pandemic levels, while the gap between the wealthiest and poorest areas has widened since 2022.

In the lowest-income neighbourhoods, 10.3% of credit card balances transitioned into serious delinquency over the past year.

This is more than double the 4.4% rate observed in the wealthiest neighbourhoods.

The average credit card balance per borrower now stands at $6,678, according to TransUnion’s third-quarter analysis report.

Among borrowers under the age of 30, the rate of credit card debt falling at least 90 days delinquent reached the highest level, according to the Fed’s report.

Democrats won the midterm elections promising to bring down prices, but delivering relief that voters can genuinely feel in their household budgets will be a difficult target to achieve.