George C. Ford, CR Gazette –
When it comes to handling their credit cards, few Iowans are delinquent with their payments and the state has the lowest average “plastic” debt.
Chicago-based TransUnion said 0.48 percent of Iowa credit card holders were 90 days or more past due on their monthly payments in the first quarter. Only North Dakota cardholders at 0.33 percent and South Dakota credit card users at 0.41 percent had lower delinquency rates.
TransUnion said average card debt per borrower slipped to $3,893 in Iowa between the end of the fourth quarter of 2011 and the end of the first quarter on March 31. North Dakota and West Virginia had the next lowest average credit card debt per borrower at $3,998 and $4,226, respectively.
The national credit card delinquency rate dropped to 0.73 percent in the first quarter of the year from 0.78 percent in the final quarter of 2011, with current levels well below historical norms. Average credit card debt per borrower decreased $242 from in the fourth quarter of 2011 to $4,962 in the quarter that ended March 31.
The decreases reversed a negative trend that saw both the delinquency rate and average debt per borrower rise during the last six months of 2011.
Looking at the year-over-year trend, the national delinquency rate was essentially flat and average debt per borrower was $283 higher.
“After two consecutive quarters of increases in both the delinquency rate and average debt, it is encouraging to see a return to declines in delinquency,” said Ezra Becker, vice president of research and consulting in TransUnion’s financial services business unit. “This contributed positively to a general trend since the bottom of the recession, which saw delinquency rates remain at near-record lows.
“Trends in average debt year over year suggest that little more than the usual seasonal influence is behind these changes. Since we rarely see significant increases in either category at this time of the year, this movement isn’t significant enough to suggest much more than a return to the status quo of early last year.”|
Becker said TransUnion continues to see improvement in high risk states like Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada.
“While average credit card debt-per-borrower decreased $242 quarter over quarter, this decline can be attributed to normal seasonal fluctuation as consumers charged holiday purchases on their cards in the fourth quarter and paid them down in the first quarter through tax refunds and bonuses. However, on a year-over-year basis, average credit card debt-per-borrower increased 6.1 percent
