The following table reports levels of revolving consumer credit at the end of February. The Fed estimates that 95 percent of this revolving credit is credit card debt. Of course, this decline may reflect, in part, favorable economic conditions. Also, of those households with at least one credit card, those with low incomes are the most concerned about making monthly credit card payments. More Rapidly than Consumer Borrowing Despite complaints to Congress that bankruptcy restrictions are needed because some consumers borrow irresponsibly, credit card issuers have dramatically expanded their marketing and credit extension.
All figures below are in billions.
Inc. As a result of this aggressive marketing and extension of credit, it is no surprise that a large majority of the public believes that credit card issuers share responsibility, with debtors, for the increase in personal bankruptcies. After declining from the early to the late 1990s, bank credit card profits have begun to rise. That has been an emphasis at Sears, which in 1998 earned two-thirds of its profits from credit cards. That has also been the key strategy of Metris, which now dominates the credit marketplace for lower income households. Today, a Metris stock share is 200 percent higher than it was in 1996, when it was first issued.