Credit Card Debt Statistics

It is important to understand what credit card debt statistics are all about.  Traditionally, credit card debt statistics have been used to prove how bad our spending habits have become.  While this is very important to understand, a far more poignant lesson can be learned by drawing a correlation between credit card debt and credit card company profits.  Believe it or not, there is a direct tie in.  It seems that the more we, as consumers fall into debt, the greater the profit for credit card companies. 

 

This should not be too surprising, as the money for these profits have to come from somewhere.  However, one has to admit, after looking at these credit card debt statistics, that it makes very little long term sense to fleece your clients for all they are worth.  In fact, this short term thinking is exactly what caused the Great Depression.  The following credit card debt statistics clearly show that while we consider ourselves advanced and wise, we are blind to the lessons of history and ultimately doomed to repeat it. 

 

 

Fast Facts

 

• Credit Card Debt Statistic: There are over 1.3 billion payment cards in use in the U.S. alone.

• Credit Card Debt Statistic: If the average American paid only their minimum payments, it would take them about 30 years to clear their debt load.

• Credit Card Debt Statistic: After considering the average length of time it takes a person to clear a purchase from their credit cards, including interest, the original purchase cost well over 100% more then if bought with cash

• Credit Card Debt Statistic: Almost half of all American families spend more each year then they earn.

• Credit Card Debt Statistic: If the total credit card debt was spread over each man, woman and child living in the US, each person would have to pay $2,293.

• Credit Card Debt Statistic: At any given moment in any given month, Americans owe $677 billion on credit cards.

• Credit Card Debt Statistic: Last year there was 1.7 trillion dollars worth of credit card debt.

 

These credit card debt statistics clearly show that most of us face the possibility of bad credit or credit report problems.  While it looks as though us consumers are in a bit of a bind the picture is much different for credit card companies.  In fact, the picture is quite rosy for the time being.  Since 1990, credit card profits have leapt through the roof.  The graph below illustrates the point well. 

 

 

 

If you are concerned about your credit card debt and would like to learn more about fixing it, click the link below. 

Credit Card Debt Information