Credit card debt reached $1.23 trillion in August, according to recent findings from WalletHub.
10/12/2023 3:50 P.M.
2 minute read
Last week, WalletHub released its most recent Credit Card Debt Study and Credit Card Landscape Survey to show how consumers are handling credit card debt and interest rate hikes. Key highlights are included below.
Credit Card Debt Study Findings:
- Fifty-six percent of Americans describe the current average interest rate as “crazy high.”
- Nearly 1 in 2 people say 10% is the maximum interest rate they would consider reasonable for a credit card.
- Nearly 3 in 5 people say record high credit card interest rates push them into paying off debt.
- Thirty-five percent of people feel frustrated due to record-high credit card interest rates, while 30% feel overwhelmed, and 12% feel angry.
- Eighty-six percent of Americans say the government should put a cap on how high credit card interest rates can get.
- Fifty-two percent of Americans would give up sweets for a year to avoid paying interest on credit cards, while 32% would move to a different country and 20% would move in with their in-laws.
- Thirty-five percent of Americans feel annoyed about tipping, considering record credit card interest rates and debt.
Credit Card Landscape Survey Findings:
- The average interest rate for new credit card offers in Q3 2023 is 22.75%, up from 20.16% a year ago.
- Interest rates on credit cards for people with excellent credit have increased the most, rising by 18% in the past year.
- The average credit card annual fee is $21.64 (0.65% higher than in Q2 2023).
- The average balance transfer fee is 2.66% (1.14% higher than in Q2 2023).
- Seventy-nine percent more credit card complaints were filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during Q3 2023 than the same quarter in 2022.
- The types of CFPB complaints that increased the most during Q3 2023 were those related to: “Credit card protection/Debt protection” (100.00% increase) and “Collection” (74.3% increase). Complaints related to “Closing/Canceling account” (-35.9%), “Delinquent account” (-35.0%), “Credit” (-34.7%) fell the most.
Read the surveys here:
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