Market Statistics

• Total revolving credit of $895 billion¹⁰
• Total consumer debt: $2,440 trillion excluding mortgages¹⁰
• Increase in total consumer debt on annual basis: 6.4 percent (as of May 2007), which is the highest annualized increase since at least 2004 (shared by March 2007)¹⁰

• At least one in ten consumers has more than 10 credit cards in their wallets. However, the overall average number of credit cards per consumer is 4.⁵
• 88 million households use credit cards today (excludes those who have no credit cards and those who only have a low balance store or gas credit card)⁸

• Median amount of credit card debt carried by Americans: $6,600³
• Mean (average) credit card debt: nearly $9,900³
• 61% carry over debt each month on their credit cards; 31% pay off balances monthly (7% have no credit cards).³
• Of cardholders carrying debt, more than 64% had balances under $10,000. But 13% of the same group said they carry total credit card balances in excess of $25,000.³
• Approximately half of all credit card holders pay only their minimum monthly payments.⁴
• American credit card holders owed $850 billion on all cards (12/31/06)⁶
  • $745 billion on general-purpose credit cards, including $641 billion on VISA and MasterCard, and $104 billion on American Express/Discovercards.
  • $105 billion on limited-purpose cards or store/gas credit cards.
• Of households that carry balances forward each month, 61% of those 111 million households, or 68 million households, revolve their credit card debt monthly.⁸

• 13.44 (standard fixed); 14.57 (standard variable) average interest rate on credit cards¹ (7/14/07)
• But there are no usury laws for credit card debt: If you miss a credit card payment, your interest rate can skyrocket over 30 percent.²
• The average interest rate for standard bank credit cards topped 19% in March 2007, compared to 16.5% in 2003.³

• More than four out of ten young consumers between the ages of 18 and 21 who surf the Web now own a credit card, and 65% of these young consumers used the Web to apply for a credit card.⁷

• U.S. consumers racked up an estimated $51 billion worth of fast food on their personal credit and debit cards in 2006, compared to $33.2 billion in 2005.⁸
• 29% of low and middle-income households with credit card debt reported that medical expenses contributed to their current balances.⁹

• 2003 was the first year in which plastic and other electronic payment methods beat out paper.¹¹
• A total of 44.5 billion electronic payment transactions crossed the wires in 2003, compared with 36.7 billion check payments. Those numbers marked a turnabout from 2000, when Americans wrote 41.9 billion checks, and electronic payments clocked in at 30.6 billion.¹¹
• Debit card payments are increasing at an annual rate of 23.5 percent, more than credit cards and other types of electronic payment.¹¹
• Of the 58 individual payment choices consumers make each month -- whether in stores or over the Internet, or while paying bills -- consumers choose electronic payments more often.¹²
• Cash and checks now account for only 45 percent of consumers' monthly payments -- down from 57 percent in 2001, and 49 percent in 2003.¹²
• Debit cards have grown at the expense of checks. In 2001, debit represented 21 percent of in-store transactions. Today, 33 percent of in-store purchases are made with debit cards.¹²
• Gift cards account for 4 percent of all in-store purchases, up from 2 percent in 2003. Use of gift/prepaid cards for at least one purchase per month in stores increased from 12 percent in 2003, to 32 percent in 2005.¹²
• 52 percent of consumers use automatic payment to pay at least one bill per month, and 39 percent of consumers use online bill payment -- especially for paying multiple bills.¹²
• Checks account for less than half of consumers' monthly bill payments – only 49 percent -- down from 72 percent in 2001, and 60 percent in 2003.¹²

• The original cost of your purchase will end up significantly higher more than its purchase price.¹⁴
1. Assume $10,000 in total credit card debt (an estimated 55 percent of U.S. households carry this amount of debt, according to an analysis of Federal Reserve Board data). A household making the minimum required payments - commonly only 2 percent of the unpaid balance or $20, whichever is greater - on this debt would pay nearly $1,500 in interest just in the first year.
2. Assume a $1,000 balance, 4% minimum monthly payment.
• Card with 19% APR: Total paid on the $1,000 debt will be $1,467.
• Card with 15% APR: Total paid will be $1,355.
• Card with 13% APR: Total paid will be $1,282.
3. Assume a beginning balance of $2,000 and APR of 15.04%.
• Monthly payments of 5% balance will result in total interest paid of $589.74, taking 65 months (more than 5 years) to pay off in full.
• Monthly payments of 10% balance will result in total interest paid of $269.31, taking 36 months (3 years) to pay off.
• The opportunity cost (what you’ve lost by paying that interest) will be very large.¹⁴
• If you have $20,000 in credit card debt, your minimum payment on that debt will be about $800 per month.
• If you did not have this credit card debt and instead invested $800 per month into an investment earning 10 percent APR, in approximately 18 years you would have saved over half a million dollars.

• Since 1982-85, personal saving as a share of disposable personal income has dropped from a range of 8 to 10 percent to minus 1.3 percent over the past year.¹⁵
• It is the negative personal saving rate coupled with public sector deficits that has boosted American net borrowing from abroad to about 6 percent of GDP. That said, a negative saving rate and rising indebtedness to the rest of world have failed to dent the persistent rise in American consumption, due in part to the willingness of foreigners to lend to America at low interest rates the funds necessary for it to keep spending in excess of income.¹⁵
• The U.S. personal savings rate has been negative for eight consecutive quarters (, reaching a 73-year low. This means Americans are dipping into their savings to make ends meet, rather than accumulating savings.¹⁶
• At the same time, personal spending in the United States jumped in December 2006 by the most in five months. The 0.7 percent rise in purchases followed a 0.5 percent increase in November.¹⁶
• The US savings rate has been negative for an entire year only four times in American history - in 2005 and 2006 - and back in 1932 and 1933.¹⁶

• 46% of those surveyed said near-record gasoline prices are causing "serious hardship," (up from 30% in June, 2004) prompting 47% to say they're considering buying a more fuel-efficient car (up from 39% in May, 2006)¹³
• Prices for a gallon of regular gasoline had hit a nationwide average of $3.22, nearly 50 percent higher than in January and pennies shy of the all-time mark (March, 1981: $3.29, adjusted for inflation).¹³
• 70% of respondents said they have tamped down their home heating or air conditioning, a slight increase from May 2006.¹³
• Those reducing their driving went from 66 percent last year to 62 percent now.¹³
• Those changing vacation plans dropped from 49 percent in 2006 to 42 percent this year.¹³

• Total holiday retail sales for 2006 are expected to increase 5.0 percent over 2005, bringing 2006 holiday spending to $457.4 billion. In comparison, holiday sales in 2005 rose 6.1 percent to $435.6 billion.¹⁷
• Over the last 10 years, the average percentage increase in sales for the holiday season is 4.6 percent.¹⁷
• One-fifth of retail industry sales (19.9%) occur during the holiday season.¹⁷