Vance CariagaTue, Jun 10, 2025, 4:01 PM 3 min readThis decade’s historically high inflation rate has pushed more Americans to use credit cards to pay the bills — and many are now delinquent on their payments. If these trends continue, it could bode ill for both personal finances and the U.S. economy, experts say.Read More: 3 Signs You’ve ‘Made It’ Financially, According to Financial Influencer Genesis HinckleyFor You: 5 Types of Cars Retirees Should Stay Away From BuyingThe average U.S. credit card debt per borrower rose to $6,371 during the first quarter of 2025, according to TransUnion‘s latest credit industry insights report. That represents a 26% increase from an average of $5,026 during the first quarter of 2022, when inflation was headed for its highest rate in four decades.GOBankingRates unpacks what these findings mean for Americans’ wallets and the economy.On the bright side, the 2025 average credit card debt was up only 2.5% from a year earlier — a slowdown from the annual increases reported in 2024 (8.5%) and 2023 (14%).Total balances across all consumer credit products — including mortgage, auto and personal loans — rose by about 28% from Q1 2020 to Q1 2025. However, when adjusted for inflation, balance growth was closer to 3%. The TransUnion analysis also found that inflation-adjusted balances for consumers declined in real dollar terms across the majority of credit risk tiers from 2020 to 2025.These are positive signs in terms of the rate of debt growth. But it’s still worrying that Americans continue to pile up debt in an otherwise decent economic environment where wages are rising and unemployment remains low.Consider This: If You’re Thinking About Getting a CD, Suze Orman Says You Should Do It Now — Here’s Why“As consumers grapple with rising costs and high interest rates, recent studies have revealed an increased reliance on credit products to help make ends meet,” TransUnion noted.This has been a particular problem for subprime borrowers, according to Michele Raneri, a TransUnion vice president and head of U.S. research and consulting.“This demographic has likely felt the impact of higher costs most acutely,” Raneri said in a press release. “But for other risk tiers of borrowers, their card balance growth has been less than the rate of inflation, indicating that many consumers may have further borrowing capacity.”Subprime and low-income borrowers are also more likely to be delinquent on their credit card payments, according to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED).Terms and Privacy PolicyPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore InfoS&P 5006,022.24 -16.57 (-0.27%)Dow 3042,865.77 -1.10 (-0.00%)Nasdaq19,615.88 -99.11 (-0.50%)Russell 20002,148.23 -8.17 (-0.38%)VIX17.26 +0.31 (+1.83%)Gold3,387.80 +44.10 (+1.32%)PortfolioSign in to access your portfolioSign inTop gainersOKLO Oklo Inc. 68.03 +15.49 (+29.48%)QUBT Quantum Computing Inc. 18.97 +3.84 (+25.38%)SMR NuScale Power Corporation 41.60 +7.05 (+20.41%)RGTI Rigetti Computing, Inc. 12.52 +1.28 (+11.39%)FLR Fluor Corporation 49.79 +4.92 (+10.97%)Top losersNEGG Newegg Commerce, Inc. 10.71 -1.74 (-13.98%)LYEL Lyell Immunopharma, Inc. 9.41 -1.39 (-12.87%)SMMT Summit Therapeutics Inc. 19.58 -2.50 (-11.32%)CHWY Chewy, Inc. 40.76 -5.03 (-10.98%)GTLB GitLab Inc. 43.37 -5.14 (-10.60%)Most activeRGTI Rigetti Computing, Inc. 12.52 +1.28 (+11.39%)NVDA NVIDIA Corporation 142.83 -1.12 (-0.78%)INTC Intel Corporation 20.68 -1.43 (-6.46%)QUBT Quantum Computing Inc. 18.97 +3.84 (+25.38%)TSLA Tesla, Inc. 326.43 +0.34 (+0.10%)Earnings eventsTrending tickersORCL Oracle Corporation 176.38 -1.10 (-0.62%)OKLO Oklo Inc. 68.03 +15.49 (+29.48%)VOYG Voyager Technologies, Inc. 56.48 +25.48 (+82.19%)QUBT Quantum Computing Inc. 18.97 +3.84 (+25.38%)RGTI Rigetti Computing, Inc. 12.52 +1.28 (+11.39%)Top economic eventsPowered by Money.com - Yahoo may earn commission from the links above.