Credit card debt affects few

The collective thought about debt is that the average American is in up to his ears in overdue student loan, credit card and medical bills. Yet recent reports indicate credit card issues are not as widespread as many believe. Information from the Federal Reserve revealed that over 25 percent of Americans are not credit card holders. Among those who have a card, only approximately 37 percent have a balance, while the remaining 63 percent owe nothing in overdue charges. Among the 37 percent, however, debt collection agents will continue to find themselves busy trying to collect owed money. Creditcards.com estimated that the average credit card debt in a household that has an overdue account averages $15,956. Part of this amassed debt could be due to Federal Reserve Bank of Boston findings that show the average credit card holder has 3.5 cards. Despite the fact that a fairly small amount of Americans have accrued debt due to past due credit card bills, the total amount of Americans consumer debt was recently clocked at $2.5 trillion by the Federal Reserve.