US average credit card debt goes up
For long, many anxious financial observers have been saying that credit card debt is adversely affecting the lives of many Americans, giving rise to prolonged financial frustration. The enormity of the problem can be judged from the results of a recent survey by an agency that reached their figures after questioning as many as 55,000 people online.Steep rise in average credit card debt
The survey segregated those credit card holders who don't carry a balance and came to the conclusion that the average credit card balance per household is $9,882. It is a departure from most other surveys that do not set aside those who always carry a balance from those who make it a point to pay off their balances every month. The average household credit card debt has recorded a steep rise from its 1990 figure of about $3,000. A person having a debt of $8,000 at a rate of 18% interest will take over 25 years to repay and in total it will cost him/her over $24,000. Another survey has put the average interest rate charged by credit cards at 14.71%. The average cardholder possesses 2.7 bank credit cards, 3.8 retail credit cards, and 1.1 debit cards. That is equivalent to 7.6 cards per cardholder.It has been found that about 64% of the cardholders have credit card balances not exceeding $10,000. But even then, over one in ten of those consumers carry quite a significant credit card debt. Nearly 13 percent were found to have balances amounting over $25,000. If we consider the credit card interest rates prevailing these days, it might take years for the average consumer to get rid of such debts. However, a significant number of cardholders try to restrain themselves and live within their means. Just over 30% people made regular payments every month, while nearly seven percent refrained from applying for credit cards altogether.