Late Credit Card Payments Hit Record Highs, Again

More late payments than ever this year

Are you behind on your credit card bills? You’re not the only one.

A credit rating agency says that delinquency rates on credit card payments hit record highs for the second straight month.

Season of the late payment

Fitch’s Prime Credit Card Delinquency Index keeps track of credit card debt that is delinquent by more than 60 days. The index shows that 4.04 percent of credit card bills through January were more than 60 days late. December set the previous record at  3.75 percent.  The current rate is 30 percent higher than historical averages.

The agency started keeping the index in 1991. Over the past three months, the rate of delinquent accounts has made its biggest jump ever, rising 23 percent.

Not enough to give

The index also shows that people are paying smaller percentages of their bills. In 2006 and 2007 card holders paid off an average of 20 percent of their bill each month. Now, that has fallen to 17.5 percent. People are trimming their budgets in every way they can. Unfortunately, for people who can’t pay their credit card bills at all and end up in delinquency, there is more bad news to come.

A cycle of bad credit

Consumers are already having a tough time securing personal loans and other types of credit. When card-holders make late credit card payments, that drives down their credit score. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Late Credit Card Payments Hit Record Highs, Again"