--- title: Americans Now Hold a Record $1.2 Trillion in Credit Card Debt description: Credit card debt reaches a record $1.2 trillion, while interest rates and delinquencies rise. Explore strategies to manage credit card debt. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently writes about news and trends related to car buying, auto insurance and gas prices. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 602 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Katherine Peach role: Associate Editor url: https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/ bio: Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. Her writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others. education: University of Maryland, Baltimore County at_money_since: 2025 articles: 14 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes published: '2025-02-14T21:29:05.000Z' modified: '2025-12-10T18:37:38.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - News word_count: 483 canonical: https://money.com/americans-have-record-credit-card-debt/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![A hand of a person drowning in credit cards](https://img.money.com/2025/02/News-Credit-Card-Rates-Highest-15-Years.jpg?crop=0px%2C197px%2C2732px%2C1537px&quality=85) Americans are opening [credit cards](https://money.com/best-credit-cards/) and racking up larger balances, pushing the country's credit card debt to a new record high. High interest rates, stubborn [inflation](https://money.com/january-data-confirms-inflation-concerns/) and continued consumer spending are among the factors that have lifted collective credit card debt to an all-time high of $1.21 trillion, according to a [New York Fed report](https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc.html). That's up from $986 billion two years ago. The latest data from the bank's Consumer Credit Panel suggests Americans opened new credit card accounts around the holidays and continued to add debt, although not necessarily at an alarming rate. ## Regain financial stability with the help of Freedom Debt Relief ### Freedom can start you on the path to resolve your debt, especially if you owe over $20,000. Why wait? Select your state to get started today! [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/l67257dab4e3?ap_referrer=%2Famericans-have-record-credit-card-debt%2F) In the fourth quarter of 2024, consumers added about 17 million credit cards, a major increase from about 5 million added during the same period a year earlier. The good news: Americans took on less credit card debt in the quarter with balances rising by $45 billion, which compares to a $50 billion increase in the fourth quarter of 2023. Credit card balances will likely decrease again in the first quarter of 2025, based on seasonal post-holiday trends. "Overall, consumers are in pretty good shape in terms of the household debt landscape, largely driven by stable balances and solid performance in mortgage loans," New York Fed researchers wrote in a [post](https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2025/02/breaking-down-auto-loan-performance/) commenting on the quarterly data release, which also examines [mortgages](https://money.com/best-mortgage-lenders/), [auto loans](https://money.com/best-auto-loan-rates/) and other types of borrowing. Still, credit card delinquencies are a point of concern that will need to be watched moving forward. In the fourth quarter, the share of credit card balances 90-plus days delinquent hit 11.35%, the highest level since the end of 2011. However, a separate Kansas City Fed report in December explained that recent credit card delinquency trends aren't as alarming as they seem on the surface. Revolving balances — the debt consumers actually carry past a billing cycle and owe interest on — were still below 2019 levels. "Stable revolving balances suggest households are not rolling over additional credit card debt and are thus better able to pay off balances," the [report](https://www.kansascityfed.org/research/economic-bulletin/consumer-credit-cards-show-few-signs-of-financial-stress/) said. ## What to do if you're struggling to make credit card payments Are you among those falling behind on credit card payments? There are proven strategies that can help you get back on track and [get out of debt](https://money.com/how-to-get-out-of-debt/). First of all, find a budgeting tool and try to rein in your spending. For existing credit card balances, research approaches to debt like the ["debt avalanche" and "debt snowball" methods](https://money.com/debt-snowball-vs-debt-avalanche/). You can also look into low or 0% APR credit cards and consider [balance transfers](https://money.com/best-balance-transfer-credit-cards/) or [personal loans](https://money.com/best-personal-loans/) to avoid ultra-high credit card interest rates. Even though the Federal Reserve has cut benchmark interest rates by 1 percentage point since September, the [average credit card APR](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TERMCBCCALLNS) is still over 20%. ## Transform your financial future today! ### Owe over $20,000? Get tailored Debt Relief services from Freedom Debt Relief. Click below to get started. [Visit Site](https://money.com/pr/v5ba59aed2dc?ap_referrer=%2Famericans-have-record-credit-card-debt%2F) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/25289/medium_2e7b27ce-b30d-40a3-beef-0139ecba6b47.png) If you owe over $20,000 or more, Freedom Debt Relief can help you get back on your feet! [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/u5c2defb44d4?ap_referrer=%2Famericans-have-record-credit-card-debt%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/americans-have-record-credit-card-debt/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Credit Card Debt", "item": "https://money.com/credit-card-debt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Americans Now Hold a Record $1.2 Trillion in Credit Card Debt" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/americans-have-record-credit-card-debt/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/americans-have-record-credit-card-debt/", "name": "Americans Now Hold a Record $1.2 Trillion in Credit Card Debt", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2025-02-14T21:29:05.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/americans-have-record-credit-card-debt/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/americans-have-record-credit-card-debt/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2025-12-10T18:37:38.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Americans Now Hold a Record $1.2 Trillion in Credit Card Debt", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2025/02/News-Credit-Card-Rates-Highest-15-Years.jpg?crop=0px%2C197px%2C2732px%2C1537px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Credit-Card-Rates-Highest-15-Years" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently writes about news and trends related to car buying, auto insurance and gas prices.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/peter.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "email": "peter.grieve@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead News Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of Chicago, BA Political Science", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/pete_grieve", "https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138", "https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2025-02-14T21:29:05.000Z", "description": "Credit card debt reaches a record $1.2 trillion, while interest rates and delinquencies rise. 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