According to recent statistics, there were 984 million bank-issued Visa and MasterCard credit card and debit card accounts in the United States in 2006. If you add in American Express and Discover, that number jumps to 1.5 Billion cards in use which represents about 73.0 percent of U.S. families.
With these types of numbers, it’s no wonder that America is a nation in debt. Credit cards have become a habit and millions of Americans are addicted. The total U.S. consumer revolving debt was $963.5 billion in December 2008 and about 98 percent of that debt was credit card debt.
These numbers can be staggering and so are the implications. The average consumer has a total of 13 debt obligations. These include credit cards/unsecured debt (such as department store charge cards, gas cards, and bank cards) and installment loans (auto loans, mortgage loans, student loans, etc.). Of these 13 credit obligations, nine are likely to be credit cards.
Nearly one in every three consumer purchases in the United States is made with a payment card, including credit, debit and prepaid products. Credit and debit cards provide a great convenience but when finances are tight, 59 percent of people surveyed said they would pay their credit card bills last.
About one in six families with credit card debt pays only the minimum amount due every month and 28 percent of those surveyed say their ability to pay off their credit card balance has become more difficult in the past year.
Where all of this gets really scary is in the interest rates and fees and how quickly they add up. Most credit cards have an interest rate of at least 12.5%, many have annual fees, and almost all have late and over the limit fees. If you can’t pay your bill in full and on-time, these fees can substantially alter the cost of whatever you purchased on the card. Since 55% of all consumers keep a balance on their card, that’s a lot of dough.
If you are one of the many Americans that is finding it harder and hard to keep up with your credit card debt, there are solutions. Don't let mounting debt destroy your financial future. First Rate Debt Solutions has answers and we can help.
(data source: creditcards.com)
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