Eye-Opening Credit Card Statistics You Need to Know

The latest statistics show that credit card acceptance in the US is at an all-time high, and for the first time, more than two-thirds of US consumers own a credit card. The earliest data available goes back to 2011, when credit card acceptance in the US was 61.94% before dipping to 60.13% in 2014. Since then, it has been steadily increasing to 65.6% in 2017 and reaching the above figure in 2021.

Read More: What Your Credit Card Says About You?

(Statista)

Credit card usage by country data reveals that Canada has the highest percentage of credit card owners per capita. In addition to Canada, there are only three other countries in the world where more than 70% of the population owns credit cards. They are Israel with 79.05%, Iceland with 74%, and Hong Kong* with 71.63%. The USA, with its 66.7%, takes the ninth place worldwide.

(Statista)

The average number of credit cards per person in the US varies from state to state. For example, consumers from New Jersey and Connecticut have an average of 4.54 and 4.21 credit cards per person, respectively, which is significantly more than those in Alaska, who only have 3.06.

Moreover, Baby Boomers are the generation who owns the most credit cards per person, with 4.61, followed by Gen Xers, who hold 4.23 credit cards on average. The oldest American consumers, belonging to the Silent Generation, have 3.64 per person, while Millennials have 3.18. Finally, Gen Zers own the lowest average number of credit cards per person, with 1.91.

(Experian)

In addition, there are another 798 million active Visa credit cards circulating around the world. Mastercard has the second biggest share of the credit card market in the US and the world, with 249 million active credit cards in the US and another 725 million cards in circulation worldwide. American Express, on the other hand, has considerably fewer credit cards circulating, with 53.8 million in the US and 58.2 million in the rest of the world.

(Visa, Mastercard, American Express)

Visa has by far the highest TPV out of all four major credit card networks. In comparison, Mastercard credit cards generated $837 billion worth of payments in 2020, while American Express credit cards had a transaction volume of $693 billion. Discover is the smallest player in the credit card market, with a TPV of $149 billion.

(Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover)

The credit card stats from a recent survey show that buying things is not the main reason Americans use their credit cards. Besides the perks and rewards, another 21.51% of US consumers say their main reason for using a credit card is to repair their credit scores. Daily purchases are the main reason for using a credit card for only 15.86% of Americans, while 10.7% use credit cards to pay their bills.

In addition, there are 5.75% of consumers whose primary credit card usage is to finance expensive purchases and another 14.07% only use their credit cards for emergencies. Finally, 4.86% use credit cards because they don’t like carrying cash on them, and 2.48% use them to postpone their payments.

(Go Banking Rates)

More precisely, Americans spend $822 on travel expenses and $815 on general merchandise purchases, accounting for 16.9% and 16.7% of their average monthly credit card spending. Furthermore, 11.6% of their credit card expenses, or $567, are restaurant bills, while 11.5%, or $562, they spend on grocery shopping.

For shoes and clothing, US consumers spend $522 and another $519 on home improvement, and both of these two expenditures account for 10.7% of their total monthly credit card bill. Additionally, Americans spend $358 (7.4%) on healthcare services, $331 (6.8%) on online services, and $210 (4.3%) on entertainment. Finally, gas expenses account for only 3.4%, or $168, of their monthly credit card spending.

(Visual Capitalist)

Credit score statistics reveal that Minnesota, with 742, is the state with the highest average FICO score, while Mississippi, with 681, has the lowest. Moreover, the FICO score tends to improve over time, so the oldest consumers have the best scores. By generation, Gen Zers have the worst average score of 679, Millennials have 686, Gen Xers have 705, Baby Boomers have 740, and the Silent Generation consumers have the best average FICO score of 760.

(Experian)

Statistics show that this year's debt is significantly higher than the $784.5 billion in 2021 and the $788.29 billion debt in 2020, but not as high as the $862.23 billion debt from 2019. The average debt also increased from $5,221 last year to $5,589 in 2022. Consumers from Alaska have an average debt of $6,787 which is highest in the US, followed by those in Connecticut with an average debt of $6,516. The states with the lowest average credit card debt in America are Iowa with $4,609 and Wisconsin with $4,628.

(Experian)

The same age group is also the age group with the largest percentage of consumers with credit card debt, with 52%. However, Americans between 45 and 54 are not the age group with the highest average debt. Instead, it is consumers aged 75 and older who have an average credit card debt of $8,100.

At the same time, only 28% of the oldest Americans carry credit card debt and have a median debt of $2,700. On the opposite end are the youngest US consumers, those aged 35 and younger, who have an average debt of $3,700, or the lowest among all age groups. 48% of these consumers carry debt, and their median debt is also the lowest, at $1,900.

(Federal Reserve)

These Americans have a median income of $290,160 and are responsible for more than double the average US credit card debt. However, only 32.2% of them carry debt, and the only group with a smaller percentage of debt carriers are consumers in the lowest income percentile.

30.5% of Americans with a median income of $16,290 carry an average debt of $3,830 which is the lowest among all the groups. The group with the largest percentage of consumers who carry credit card debt is between the 60 and 79 percentile, or Americans with a median income of $95,700. Statistics on credit card debt show that 56.8% of these consumers carry an average debt of $6,990.

(Federal Reserve)

The average debt of White Americans is $6,940, which is 9.26% of their average income. Hispanics have a considerably lower median debt of $1,900, but their average debt is $5,510, and that figure accounts for 9.96% of their average income. Black Americans have the lowest average debt of $3,940 and the lowest median credit card debt of $1,300. Their debt also accounts for the lowest percentage of their income at 8.59%.

(Federal Reserve)

This group of American consumers has a median debt of $2,700 and an average debt of $6,210. College graduates have the highest average and median debts among all education level groups with $7,940 and $3,600, but the lowest debt-to-income ratio at 9.91%. Furthermore, statistics about credit card debt also show that consumers with no high school diploma have an average debt of $3,390 and a median debt of $1,200, which accounts for 10.41% of their average incomes. Finally, high school graduates have a median debt of $2,000 and an average debt of $4,940, or 11.74% of their average income.

(Federal Reserve)

A recent survey on credit card debt in America reveals that most US consumers expect to settle their debts within a year, while another 24% believe they will pay their debt off within two years. Additionally, 13% expect to settle their debts within three years, 6% within four, 5% within five, and 6% believe they need more than five years to settle their credit card debts. Unfortunately, 3% of US consumers believe they will never pay off their credit card debt.

(Inside 1031)

Credit card debt facts show that 37% of the consumers who have missed a payment did it simply because they forgot to pay it on time. Another 32% couldn’t pay their credit card bill because they needed the money for food and groceries, 31% needed to pay for utilities, and an equal portion had to pay for an unexpected emergency.

Moreover, 29% say they missed a credit card payment because they prioritized another debt they had, while 25% had to pay their rent or mortgage. Lastly, 23% admit they’ve missed a payment because they spent too much on nonessentials, and 21% did it because they’ve lost their job.

(Inside 1031)

Credit card debt in US statistics also show that 22% of American consumers carry a debt of less than $1,000, while 20% have a credit card debt of between $5,000 and $14,999. Furthermore, 8% of the US population carry a debt of between $15,000 and $19,999, 7% between $20,000 and $24,999, and 12% of Americans have a credit card debt of more than $25,000.

(Inside 1031)