U.S. seeing bigger and bigger credit card debt increases

It appears that, lately, U.S. consumers are turning more and more to credit card debt in their financial actions. A recent study, issued by CardHub, contained statistics regarding consumer credit card debt in the country in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The statistics indicate that, over this three-year period, there has been quite a bit of growth in credit card debt.

All three of these years saw an increase in credit card debt in America. Furthermore, the increase size got bigger and bigger over the course of this time period. The 2012 increase was $36.7 billion, the 2013 increase was $38.8 billion and the 2014 increase was over $57 billion.

The study predicts that both the trends of continued credit card debt increases and growing increases will continue this year. Specifically, it predicts that 2015 will see a $60 billion increase in credit card debt.

Thus far, the increases in credit card debt have not been accompanied by major increases in credit card debt defaults. In fact, the credit card default level of the country’s consumers is currently the lowest it’s been since 2008. Some worry though that, if the credit card debt increases continue, a point might be reached where defaults start becoming much more common.

Why do you think America has been seeing such an explosion of credit card debt amounts as of late? Do you think the increases might lead to problems in the future? What do you think are the biggest credit card debt issues that individuals here in Florida face these days?

Sometimes, when a consumer ends up taking on more and more credit card debt, their debt ends up crossing the point where the consumer can maintain control over it. This can wreak massive amounts of havoc on a person’s financial situation. One thing that can sometimes provide relief to an individual whose credit card debt load is unmanageable is bankruptcy. A consumer can sometimes get credit card debts discharged in a bankruptcy. Bankruptcy lawyers can go over potential options for debt relief, such as bankruptcy, with individuals who are struggling with credit card debt.

Source: The Washington Times, “Credit card debt growing at highest levels in years,” Christopher White, March 9, 2015