Credit cards: Share of balances 90-plus days late hits highest mark since 2011 |
Credit cards: Share of balances 90-plus days late hits highest mark since 2011
(NewsNation) — Americans are struggling with credit card debt at levels not seen in more than a decade.
The percentage of credit card balances that were at least 90 days past due rose to 13.1 percent in the first quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York — up from 12.3 percent a year earlier and the highest quarterly reading since 2011.
Americans collectively owe more than $1.25 trillion in credit card debt, while the share of balances that are seriously delinquent has surged from around 8 percent in early 2023.
The roughly five-percentage-point jump over the past three years is steeper than the rise seen between 2007 and the 2010 peak, when 13.7 percent of credit card balances were at least 90 days late.
Rising overdue balances have coincided with higher interest rates, making carrying credit card debt more expensive.
The average credit card interest rate stood at 21 percent in February, up from around 14.5 percent in February 2022, before the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates.
But the increase in seriously delinquent balances may not be driven by a wave of new borrowers falling behind.
Instead, the New York Fed found........