Creditnet News Story
Americans closing out more credit card accounts
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
By Sam Lee
Over the last several quarters, Americans have been more successful in paying off their outstanding debts. But rather than take on more, they're simply closing their credit card accounts.
According to the latest quarterly report from the New York Federal Reserve Bank, consumer debt declined once again in the second quarter of the year as it did for the previous six periods. As of June 30, total nationwide consumer debt amounted to $11.7 trillion, a 1.5 percent drop of $178 billion from the first quarter of the year. It was also a 6.5 percent decline of $812 billion from the peak seen in the third quarter of 2008.
The report also noted that many Americans, after paying off their debt, were opting to simply close their credit card accounts. The number of total accounts with credit card issuers dropped from 385 million to 381 million in the second quarter, down 23.2 percent from the peak seen in the same period two years ago.
Consumers have in recent months shown a better ability to pay off their credit card bills, as lenders have reported less delinquencies and fewer charge offs in both June and July.
| 
Subscribe | |
