|
Card Shuffle (11/9/01)
FULL STORY:
Credit card debt has hit the wall as consumers move revolving debt into
mortgages, and slow down a bit on card usage. During September, Americans
tacked on a mere $1.4 billion to revolving credit, compared to $4.2 billion
last September. Since the first of this year, total revolving credit, mostly
credit card debt, has grown by $31.2 billion compared to $44.3 billion for the
same period last year. However, more than 90% of the growth this year occurred
between January and May. Since June, revolving credit has grown only $1.2
billion, according to preliminary figures released this week by the Federal
Reserve. At the same time card credit usage as dropped somewhat, from a 13%
annual growth rate for the second quarter (Apr-Jun) to 10% for the third
quarter (Jul-Sep), according to CardWeb.com's CardData service. Therefore it
appears the record low interest rates for home mortgages (6%-7%) and home
equity lines (7%-8%) are siphoning off credit card debt, which carries an
average interest rate between 14% and15%. The effect of the September 11th
events undoubtedly played a role in the soft September figures as credit card
volume collapsed by 20% in the week following the terrorist attacks. But, it
appears mortgage originators and not the terrorists are the real reason behind
the credit card debt slowdown.
|
|