Credit Card Debt Increases by $36 Billion

By: M. Scott Morris
Published: September 16th, 2024

Credit card debt increased by $36 billion in the second quarter of 2024, but overall credit card debt, roughly $1.28 trillion after the increase, is around 13% below the inflation-adjusted peak from December 2008, according to WalletHub's Credit Card Debt Study.

"That's not great if you look at it in a vacuum, but it is around 17% less than we added to our tab in Q2 last year," said John Kiernan, WalletHub editor.

Here are more findings from the study:

• The average household credit card balance as of Q2 2024 is around $10,680 after adjusting for inflation. That's $1,991 below the peak from Q4 2007.
• The average credit card interest rate is 22.76%, which is just shy of a record high.
• Preliminary data for July shows a new record high for the month in absolute terms, but when you adjust for inflation, there was a 4% increase in credit card debt compared to the same month last year (and no new record).
• The best balance transfer credit cards currently offer 0% APRs for up to 21 months with no annual fee and low balance transfer fees.

The Federal Reserve interest rate remains a chief concern for Americans with 63% of those surveyed saying they are concerned that cutting interest rates will make inflation worse. More than nine in 10 people think inflation is still an issue, and nearly three in four are concerned about a recession. Other Federal Reserve concerns include:

• 76% of survey respondents think the Fed plans to cut interest rates for political reasons.
• Nearly two in five Americans think banks and credit unions will not pass savings from lower rates on to their customers.

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