The credit card delinquency rate, the ratio of borrowers 90 days or more delinquent on their general purpose credit cards, decreased from 1.51% during the first quarter of 2013 to 1.37% in the first quarter of 2014.
Average credit card debt per borrower also dropped from $5,201 in the first three months of 2013 to $5,164 in the same period this year, as per a new report from Chicago-based TransUnion, which monitors credit related to mortgages, credit cards and auto loans.
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On a quarterly basis, both the credit card delinquency rate was down from 1.48% in Q4 2013 and credit card debt down from $5,325 during the corresponding period last fiscal due to seasonality associated with improved payment patterns after the holiday season.
The company said that its report is based on anonymized credit data from virtually every credit-active consumer in the US.
TransUnion’s financial services business unit research and consulting vice president, Ezra Becker, said, "We generally see lower credit card delinquency rates and balances in the first quarter of the year as many consumers pay down credit cards that they charged up during the holiday season."
"Some consumers who receive tax refunds near the end of the first quarter also use these funds to help pay off debts, including their credit cards."
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By GlobalDataAccording to the report, there are 344.53 million credit card accounts as of first quarter of 2014, up from 329.73 million during the same period last fiscal.
