Credit Card Performance Metrics Show Signs of ‘Consumer Distress’

Credit card performance metrics are showing signs of “consumer distress,” the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Wednesday (April  9).

Both the percentage of credit card accounts 90 days past due and the share of credit card accounts making the minimum payment reached the highest levels seen in the 12 years the Fed has been gathering this data, it said in a report posted Wednesday.

The percentages of credit card accounts 30 and 60 days past due also increased, though not to series highs, according to the article.

“Large banks mostly believe that credit card performance will remain at its current levels in 2025,” the article said. “However, the share of credit card accounts making the minimum payment has hit series highs in each of the past two quarters. Collectively, these trends, along with a new series high for revolving card balances, indicate greater consumer stress.”

Credit card balances rose 4% in the fourth quarter, compared with the same quarter a year earlier, marking “a substantial slowdown from the double-digit growth in 2022 and 2023,” the article said.

PYMNTS reported in February that issuer earnings at the time showed that consumers were struggling with timely credit card payments.

The report also noted that PYMNTS Intelligence research found late last year that carrying credit card debt is a fact of life for a large majority of the population, with fully three-quarters of consumers having credit card debt and the percentage skewing higher for cardholders who said they lived paycheck to paycheck.

The New York Federal Reserve said in February that consumers loaded up on their credit cards in the fourth quarter of 2024, with card balances surging by $45 billion and delinquency rates being “elevated.”

Credit card debt reached $1.2 trillion at the end of December, according to the New York Fed.

In another sign that Americans are having trouble staying on top of their monthly bills, it was reported in March that automotive repossessions jumped last year to the highest level in 15 years.

Around 1.73 million cars were seized by lenders in 2024, a figure that was 16% higher than 2023 and 43% higher than 2022.