Demographics Credit Cards

Demographics Credit Cards

Asian-American

• Nearly two in three Asian-Americans reported having at least two credit cards. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009)
• Just 19 percent of Asian-Americans reported not having a credit card. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009)

African-American

• About one in three African-Americans -- 35 percent -- reported having at least two credit cards. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009)
• 49 percent of African-Americans reported not having a credit card. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009)
• 26 percent of Americans, or more than 58 million adults, admit to not paying all of their bills on time. Among African-Americans, this number is at 51 percent.  (Source: National Foundation for Credit Counseling, 2009 Financial Literacy Survey, April 2009)
• In 2004, of those with credit cards, 84 percent of African-American households carried credit card debt compared with 54 percent of white households. (Source: Demos.org, "Borrowing To Make Ends Meet," November 2007)
• Over 90 percent of African-American families earning between $10,000 and $24,999 had credit card debt. (Source: Demos.org study, November 2007)

Elderly

• About 50 percent of households headed by someone between 55 and 64 carry credit card debt. And 37 percent of those headed by someone between 65 and 74 carry credit card debt.   (Source: Federal Reserve, "Survey of Consumer Finances," February 2009)
• in 1991, people 55 and older accounted for 8.2 percent of bankruptcy filings. By 2007, that number had almost tripled to 22.3 percent.  (Source: AARP, "Generations of Struggle," June 2008)
• Three in four cardholders age 60 or older always paid their credit card in full in the past 12 months. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009) 
• 80 percent of Americans 65 or older indicated they used a credit card in the month preceding the September 2008 survey. That's 13 points higher than any other age group. They also used debit cards far less than other age groups. Only 47 percent of those over 65 said they had used a debit card in the month before the survey, 19 points lower than any other age group. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• In the fourth quarter of 2008, consumers over 60 had an average balance of $763 per open bankcard or retail accounts. A year before, that balance was $746. The year before that, it was $735 -- meaning the average has jumped about 4 percent in 2 years. (Source: Experian marketing insight snapshot, March 2009)
• Individuals older than 60 have a significantly higher credit score than younger consumers. The U.S. average VantageScore® is 769. The average score rises to 837 when looking solely at the over-60 population. (Source: Experian marketing insight snapshot, March 2009)
• In the fourth quarter of 2008, consumers over 60 had an average of 5.6 open bankcard and retail accounts. The U.S. population as a whole had an average of 5.4 cards. A year before, those over 60 had 6.1 open cards and the population as a whole had 5.5. The year before that, those over 60 had 6.2 open cards and the population as a whole had 5.5. (Source: Experian marketing insight snapshot, March 2009)

Gender

• Women were 26 percent more likely to be victims of identity fraud than men in 2008. (Source: Javelin Strategy & Research, February 2009 study.)

Hispanics

• About half of Hispanics -- 44 percent -- reported having at least two credit cards. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009) 
• 42 percent of Hispanics reported having no credit cards. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009)
• 58 percent of Hispanics have not used a credit card in the past 30 days. (Source: Experian Consumer Research study, November 2008)
• 42 percent of Hispanics don't like the idea of being in debt. (Source: Experian Consumer Research study, November 2008)
• 31 percent of Hispanics typically pay cash for their purchases. (Source: Experian Consumer Research study, November 2008)

Young adults

• The average person under the age of 35 got both their first credit card and their first debit card when they were about 21 years old. (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)
• 41 percent of cardholders from the ages of 18 to 29 made only the minimum required payment on a credit card in some of the past 12 months. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009) 
• Just 51 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 indicated they had used a credit card in the month preceding the September 2008 survey. 71 percent of that age group said that they had used a debit card in the same period. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• Only 2 percent of undergraduates had no credit history. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Eighty-four percent of the student population overall have credit cards, an increase of approximately 11 percent since the fall of 2004. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Undergraduates are carrying record-high credit card balances. The average (mean) balance grew to $3,173, the highest in the years the study has been conducted. Median debt grew from 2004’s $946 to $1,645. Twenty-one percent of undergraduates had balances of between $3,000 and $7,000, also up from the last study. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Half of college undergraduates had four or more credit cards in 2008. That's up from 43 percent in 2004 and just 32 percent in 2000.  (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Since 2004, students who arrived on campus as freshmen with a credit card already in-hand have increased from 23 percent to 39 percent. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• In spring of 2008, only 15 percent of freshmen had a zero balance, down dramatically from 69 percent in the fall of 2004. The median debt freshmen carried was $939, nearly triple the $373 in 2004. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Seniors graduated with an average credit card debt of more than $4,100, up from $2,900 almost four years ago. Close to one-fifth of seniors carried balances greater than $7,000. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Nine in 10 undergraduates reported paying for direct education expenses with credit cards—and the average amount they charged more than doubled since the last study. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Ninety-two percent of undergraduate credit cardholders charged textbooks, school supplies, or other direct education expenses, up from 85 percent when the study was last conducted, in 2004.  (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Nearly one-third (30 percent) put tuition on their credit card, an increase from 24 percent in the previous study. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Students who used credit cards to pay for direct education expenses estimated charging $2,200, more than double 2004’s average of $942. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Sixty percent of undergrads experienced surprise at how high their balance had reached, and 40 percent said they have charged items knowing they didn’t have the money to pay the bill. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Only 17 percent said they regularly paid off all cards each month, and another 1 percent had parents, a spouse, or other family members paying the bill. The remaining 82 percent carried balances and thus incurred finance charges each month. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Two-thirds of survey respondents said they had frequently or sometimes discussed credit card use with their parents. The remaining one-third who had never or only rarely discussed credit cards with parents were more likely to pay for tuition with a credit card and were more likely to be surprised at their credit card balance when they received the invoice. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• Eighty-four percent of undergraduates indicated they needed more education on financial management topics. In fact, 64 percent would have liked to receive information in high school and 40 percent as college freshmen. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards," April 2009)
• One-fourth of the students surveyed in US PIRG's 2008 Campus Credit Card Trap report said that they have paid a late fee, and 15 percent have paid an "over the limit" fee. (Source: U.S. PIRG, "Campus Credit Card Trap")
• 74 percent of monthly college spending is with cash and debit cards. Only 7 percent is with credit cards. (Source: Student Monitor annual financial services survey of current college students, 2008)
• The average college graduate has nearly $20,000 in debt; average credit card debt has increased 47 percent between 1989 and 2004 for 25-to 34-year-olds and 11 percent for 18- to 24-year-olds. Nearly one in five 18- to 24-year-olds is in "debt hardship," up from 12 percent in 1989. (Source: Demos.org, "The Economic State of Young America," May 2008)

Other

• 76 percent of Americans aged 25 to 34 indicated they had used a debit card in the month preceding the September 2008 survey. 63 percent of that age group said that had used a credit card in the same period. (Source: Javelin, "Credit Card Spending Declines" study, March 2009)
• Americans older than 50 are more likely to have a credit card than those 25 to 49 years old, but tend to use them less frequently. (Source: AARP payments study, 2007)
• In 2005, older consumers were significantly less likely to be victims of the ID frauds covered in the survey. While 15.4 percent of those who were between 35 and 44 years of age were victims of one or more of the frauds in the survey, the rate falls by to 11.0 percent for those between 55 and 64 and to 10.4 percent for those between 65 and 74. Of those who were at least 75 years of age, only 5.6 percent were victims. (Source: Federal Trade Commission survey, October 2007)
• Hispanics were 50 percent more likely than non-Hispanic whites to have been a victim of fraud in 2005, with 18.0 percent of Hispanics estimated to have been a victim of one or more frauds. (Source: Federal Trade Commission survey, October 2007)
• Discussing credit card debt is highly taboo. The topics at the top of the list of things that people say they are very or somewhat unlikely to talk openly about with someone they just met were: The amount of credit card debt (81 percent); details of your love life (81 percent); your salary (77 percent); the amount you pay for your monthly mortgage or rent (72 percent); your health problems (62 percent); your weight (50 percent). (Source: CreditCards.com research, January 2009