Revolving consumer credit continued to hover above the $800 billion milestone in March. However, Americans added a mere $400 million to revolving credit during the third month of the new year, compared to nearly $3 billion one-year ago. Monthly payment rates continue to clip growth in credit card debt. The higher MPR is a combination of low mortgage interest rates and consumer credit score knowledge. According to the Federal Reserve, Americans owed $800.5 billion in revolving credit at the end of March, compared to $796.4 billion for January. One-year ago revolving credit stood at approximately $767.6 billion. The annual growth rate is now 0.6%, compared to 4.8% in the previous month, and 3.6% one-year ago. Bank credit card debt (excluding store and gas credit cards) at the end of the first quarter was about $671 billion, or roughly 84% of total revolving credit, according to CardData (www.carddata.com). At the end of March, Americans were $2127 billion in debt, excluding home mortgages.
REVOLVING CREDIT HISTORICAL ($billions)
Mar 05 Feb 05 Jan 05 Dec 04 Nov 04 Sep 04 Mar 04
GRWTH: 0.6% 4.8 6.3 3.7 0.9 9.1 3.6
$OWED: $800.5 800.1 796.9 792.7 784.0 785.4 767.6
Source: Federal Reserve; revised figures as of 5/06/05;
For complete historical data, visit CardData (www.carddata.com)
