Random CC Facts

[Anonymous]

So I googled "most common credit cards" to see if there was a published list of the most applied for and most commonly held cards.  This link popped up (and now I'm side tracked) and I think a lot of it is interesting, though not necessarily surprising.

Here are some highlights.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-industry-facts-personal-debt-statistics-1276...

Credit cards

Circulation

Total cards in circulation in U.S.
(Through year-end 2010, unless otherwise noted)

• American Express credit: 48.9 million (Source: AmericanExpress.com)
• MasterCard credit: 171 million (Source: MasterCard) 
• MasterCard debit: 123 million (Source: MasterCard)
• Visa credit: 269 million, as of Sept. 30, 2010 (Source: Visa)
• Visa debit: 397 million, as of Sept. 30, 2010 (Source: Visa)
• Discover cards: Unavailable

[b]I can't believe Cap1 is higher than Citi[/b]

J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Credit Card Satisfaction Study Rankings 

1. American Express
2. Discover
3. US Bank
4. Wells Fargo
5. Chase
6. Barclaycard
7. Bank of America
8. Capital One
9. Citi
10. HSBC

Penalty fees from credit cards will add up to about $20.5 billion in 2009, according to R. K. Hammer, a consultant to the credit card industry

• More than one-third of American adults (37 percent) admit that they do not know their credit score. (Source: National Foundation for Credit Counseling, 2009 Financial Literacy Survey, April 2009)

Read more: http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-industry-facts-personal-debt-statistics-1276...
Compare credit cards here - CreditCards.com

[Anonymous]

This number is higher than I thought.  Presumably from December 2009 so I guess elevated for the holidays.

• The mean, or average, unpaid credit card balance last month was $3,389. The median is $90. (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)

Read more: http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-industry-facts-personal-debt-statistics-1276...
Compare credit cards here - CreditCards.com

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

This number is higher than I thought.  Presumably from December 2009 so I guess elevated for the holidays.

• The mean, or average, unpaid credit card balance last month was $3,389. The median is $90. (Source: "The Survey of Consumer Payment Choice," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, January 2010)

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WIth as irresponsible as a lot of people are with their credit card use (and debts in general), I'm surprised it's not higher. Although I guess if you're irresponsible, you won't have a higher CL in today's credit market, so you won't be able to put yourself in as much debt.