consumer debt

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Americans' Credit Card Debt Is at Record Levels

'Significant stress' is emerging for lower-income people

(Newser) - While the US economy is broadly healthy, pockets of Americans have run through their savings and run up their credit card balances after battling inflation for more than two years. Experts worry that members of these groups—mostly lower- and middle-income Americans, who tend to be renters—are falling behind...

'Buy Now, Pay Later': Welcome to the Era of 'Phantom Debt'

Warnings are increasingly being issued about companies like Affirm, Afterpay

(Newser) - "Buy now, pay later" is becoming an increasingly popular way for Americans to shop—the stock for one company offering payment plans on purchases, Affirm, quintupled in 2023, reports CNBC —and warnings are increasingly being issued about what that could mean for consumers. The New York Times cites...

Squeezed Consumers Are Missing Credit Card, Auto Loan Payments

Analysts say problem is going to get worse in the months ahead

(Newser) - Americans squeezed by high prices and high interest rates are failing to make payments on credit cards and auto loans—and analysts expect loan delinquencies to keep rising before the situation improves for consumers, especially those on lower incomes. "The increase in delinquencies and defaults is symptomatic of the...

Macy's Says Consumers Are Having Financial Problems

There's been a steep rise in failures to make credit card payments

(Newser) - In what could be a warning sign for the wider US economy, Macy's says it's dealing with a steep rise in the number of customers who are failing to make credit card payments. Macy's CFO/COO Adrian Mitchell told Wall Street analysts Tuesday that the company was surprised...

Household Debt Just Had Its Biggest Increase Since 2007

Researchers say credit card, mortgage balances are rising sharply

(Newser) - During the early days of the pandemic, consumers weren't breaking out their credit cards. Those days are behind us. Household debt is now surging, with credit card balances seeing their biggest rise in more than 20 years in the third quarter of this year, researchers say. The Federal Reserve...

Portrait of Americans' Finances: We Owe More Than Ever

Household debt topped $16T for first time

(Newser) - Americans owe more money than they ever have before. The New York Federal Reserve on Tuesday shared that household debt increased to $16.15 trillion in the second quarter. It's the first time it's surpassed the $16 trillion mark, and represents a 2%—or $312 billion—rise over...

7M of Us Are Behind on Our Car Loans. Is It a Red Flag?
We Haven't Been This Behind
on Car Loans Since 2010
the rundown
Feb 13, 2019 10:35 AM CST

We Haven't Been This Behind on Car Loans Since 2010

NY Fed says more than 7M Americans are 90 days or more behind

(Newser) - Borrowers are behind in their auto loan payments in numbers not seen since delinquencies peaked at the end of 2010, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York . More than 7 million Americans were 90 or more days behind on their car loans at the end of last year,...

Student Loan Debt to Hit $1T This Year

...that's more than Americans owe on their credit cards

(Newser) - America’s total outstanding student loan debt will cross the $1 trillion threshold for the first time this year, putting those loans ahead of credit cards as the country’s biggest source of debt, USA Today reports, citing figures from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Student lending has...

It's the Busted Consumer Bubble, Stupid
 It's the Busted 
 Consumer Bubble, Stupid 
DAVID LEONHARDT
Jul 17, 2011 8:56 AM CDT

It's the Busted Consumer Bubble, Stupid

With no consumer spending, economy keeps dragging

(Newser) - There are plenty of theories and explanations for the economic crisis that has afflicted the United States for years now, but they all miss the element of the continuing malaise—it's really about the bursting of the decades-long consumer spending bubble, writes David Leonhardt in the New York Times...

'Recovery' Looking Like 10-Year Recession

Uncertainty is the 'new normal' in America

(Newser) - For many Americans, "recovery" feels a lot like recession—and it may take a decade for that to change, finds the New York Times . At the current rate of job creation, for instance, it would take nine years to recapture jobs lost thus far. Home prices, meanwhile, are down...

Ignore the Stats: Credit Card Debt Still a Big Problem

Michelle Singletary: Numbers look good because of bank write-offs

(Newser) - A recent spate of reports suggests that consumers are finally getting smart about plastic by paying down their credit card debt. Hold the celebration, writes Michelle Singletary. A closer look shows that one of the big reasons overall debt is shrinking is not because consumers are paying it back but...

Credit Card Debt Drops to 8-Year Low

Falls to an average of $4,951

(Newser) - The average American’s credit card debt hit an 8-year low in the second quarter of the year—even as rates hit a 9-year high . The average combined credit card debt fell to $4,951, down 13% from $5,719 over the same stretch last year, according to figures from...

1 in 4 Americans a Credit Risk

Credit scores sink to new lows

(Newser) - Thanks to the Great Recession, the credit scores of millions more Americans have sunk to new lows. New figures show that an astounding 1 in 4 households are now in the lowest credit category, boosting the number of those considered poor lending risks to 43 million. Even more consumers are...

BofA Cardholder Rips 'Thieving Bastards'

Foe of 'usury and plunder' won't pay 'til CEO watches video

(Newser) - A California woman who says she kept paying her credit card bill even after she lost her job has had enough: She's pledging not to pay down her Bank of America account until the creditor lowers her interest rate, the Huffington Post reports.. It’s “the proverbial first...

Credit Cards Cut Deadbeats More Slack

With unemployment rising, companies modify, reduce debt

(Newser) - With unemployment nearing 10%, credit card companies are doing something once unheard of: forgiving debt, or modifying it in the customer’s favor, the Washington Post reports. Companies are loathe to discuss the practice, lest it inspire more delinquencies, but according to one industry report, roughly 3 million people got...

Banks Hit Poorest With $38B in Overdraft Fees

(Newser) - American banks will pull in $38.5 billion in overdraft fees this year, a record sum that's largely coming from pockets of the poorest and most indebted consumers. According to the Financial Times, banks hiked fees on overdrafts and credit cards as the financial crisis took hold; this year's take...

Arbitration Firms Quit Consumer Debt Biz

Credit card, cell phone companies scramble to collect by themselves

(Newser) - Credit card and cell phone companies are scrambling as two major arbitration firms back out of the business of settling consumer disputes, the Wall Street Journal reports. The National Arbitration Forum—accused in a Minnesota lawsuit of misleading consumers into thinking it was impartial—will stop taking cases this week,...

Cities Saddled With the Most Credit Card Debt

Florida, California have credit problem, Forbes shows

(Newser) - The recession has many Americans tightening their belts, but some just can’t seem to put away the plastic. Forbes checked in with Equifax and compiled a list of the country's most credit card-happy cities. Conclusion? Florida might have a problem.
  1. Miami: Average household credit card debt: $9,797, or
...

Obama Wants Credit Card Relief Bill by Memorial Day

(Newser) - Putting himself on the side of fuming consumers, President Obama is pushing for Congress to send him legislation by Memorial Day that would immediately reign in the credit card industry, he said in his radio address this morning. The House has passed a bill banning several predatory practices, but it...

House Approves Credit Card Reform

(Newser) - The House today approved legislation to protect credit card holders from hidden fees and sudden rate hikes, Reuters reports. Legislators voted overwhelmingly for the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights, a measure banks complain will tighten the amount of credit available and make holding a card more expensive. The Senate is...

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