A Look at the Fed's Survey of Consumer Finances
Last week, the Federal Reserve released its Survey of Consumer Finances2007, the triennial look into the financial condition of American families, including credit card debt.
The survey shows that the average credit card balance for families who carried a balance increased, but the percentage of families who actually carried a balance declined slightly.
"This survey gives good information about how families in the U.S. handle their credit card debt. It's good to look at the trends from 2004 to 2007. However, knowing what has happened to financial institutions and credit card loans since then, some of these statistics are obviously a bit dated," says Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com and author of The Credit Card Guidebook.
According to the survey:
* In 2007, the median balance for those carrying a balance was $3,000, up 25% from 2004. The mean balance for those carrying a balance rose 30.4% to $7,300.
* In 2007, 73% of all families had a credit card compared to 74.9% in 2004.
* In 2007, 46.1% of all families carried a credit card balance, a slight drop from 46.2% in 2004.
* Median number of cards was two per family.
* Median interest rate rose one percentage point to 12.5%.
* Median credit limit rose 21.4% to $18,000.
"Since this survey, credit limits have been cut for many cardholders. In the
latest Quarterly Loan Officer Report, 60% of banks say that they have tightened lending policies for credit cards over the past three months," says Hardekopf.
* Of families with credit cards, 96.1% have a bank-type card, 56.7% have store cards, and 11.9% have gasoline cards.
* Credit card debt was 3.5% of total debt. This is up from 3.0% in 2004 (primary residence is 74.7 percent of total debt).
The Survey of Consumer Finances is a triennial survey and one of the best snapshots of the finances of U.S. families. It interviewed 4,422 families.
The survey shows that the average credit card balance for families who carried a balance increased, but the percentage of families who actually carried a balance declined slightly.
"This survey gives good information about how families in the U.S. handle their credit card debt. It's good to look at the trends from 2004 to 2007. However, knowing what has happened to financial institutions and credit card loans since then, some of these statistics are obviously a bit dated," says Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com and author of The Credit Card Guidebook.
According to the survey:
* In 2007, the median balance for those carrying a balance was $3,000, up 25% from 2004. The mean balance for those carrying a balance rose 30.4% to $7,300.
* In 2007, 73% of all families had a credit card compared to 74.9% in 2004.
* In 2007, 46.1% of all families carried a credit card balance, a slight drop from 46.2% in 2004.
* Median number of cards was two per family.
* Median interest rate rose one percentage point to 12.5%.
* Median credit limit rose 21.4% to $18,000.
"Since this survey, credit limits have been cut for many cardholders. In the
latest Quarterly Loan Officer Report, 60% of banks say that they have tightened lending policies for credit cards over the past three months," says Hardekopf.
* Of families with credit cards, 96.1% have a bank-type card, 56.7% have store cards, and 11.9% have gasoline cards.
* Credit card debt was 3.5% of total debt. This is up from 3.0% in 2004 (primary residence is 74.7 percent of total debt).
The Survey of Consumer Finances is a triennial survey and one of the best snapshots of the finances of U.S. families. It interviewed 4,422 families.
