December 3, 2008
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News: TransUnion 3Q Reports:
TransUnion has just wrapped up their third quarter tallies. Not to anyone's surprise, credit card delinquencies are way up. The average borrower credit card debt is also up and has jumped 7.7 percent from a year ago. The delinquency (credit card payments over 90 days late) has risen to 1.09 percent this year whereas, last year's third quarter was only 1.03 percent. The largest jumps generally take place during the third quarter every year and this time it was no different. Just since this year's second quarter, which was 1.04 percent, the credit card delinquency jump was 0.05 percent, up to the 1.09 percent.
Geographical differences have been growing and were even more pronounced this quarter. The worst-off state was Nevada with a 1.79 percent credit card delinquency rate. Next in line was Florida with a 1.45 percent rate. It's probably relevant to note here that Nevada and Florida were also the worst-off when it came to the home mortgage crisis. The best-off states were North Dakota and Vermont. They each, were cited with only a 0.70 percent rate.
Turning to average credit card borrower debt, this year's second quarter rose from $1,617 last year to $1,742 this year, The worst-off state for average card debt was in Alaska, which has climbed to $2,486. The runner-ups (no pun intended) were Tennessee, which had risen to $2,168, and then comes Alabama with an average credit card debt of $2,038.
The best-off states with the lowest credit card debt were Iowa with only owing $1,305 and then comes North Dakota standing at only $1,306. South Dakota came in as third best. They average a $1,398 debt load.
The experts agree that the current recession (which now, officially, goes back to last year) accounts for the biggest reason for these worsening conditions. With so much of our nation living from paycheck to paycheck and ever dwindling incomes, our citizens are finding it more and more necessary to borrow on credit cards just for normal living expenses.