Debt perception - statistics on credit card usage

American Demographics, May, 1997 by Nancy Ten Kate

Most Americans own at least one credit card. And of the seven in ten who do, an amazing 34 percent do not know the interest rate of the credit card they use most often, according to a new survey.

People aged 55 and older are most likely not to know their interest rate, at 44 percent. It's possible that older adults are less likely than average to carry a balance, so interest rates aren't an issue with them. (For those of you who are curious, the average interest rate reported by respondents is 12.7 percent.)

Staying blissfully unaware of what it costs to charge things may increase overall consumer debt, although most spenders don't recognize that possibility. The top-three reasons given for rising debt are that people are living beyond their means (26 percent), credit cards are easily obtained (17 percent), and incomes aren't keeping up with expenses (17 percent).

These data are from the August 1996 "National Survey of Consumer Financial Behavior," a monthly tracking poll conducted by the Gallup Organization for Bank Advertising News. For more information, contact Pat Einspahr at Gallup, 300 South 68th Street, Lincoln, NE 68510; telephone (402) 489-8700.