Interesting Facts 

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The average American family is paying about $1,100 a year in interest on credit cards.

Interest rates on bank credit cards have widened as a result of the eleven rate cuts by the Feds in 2001. Card rates, after the introductory periods, now range from 4.75% to 35.00%, the widest spread ever.

The number of consumers who are enrolled in debt management programs has increased from approximately 400,000 consumers in 1995 to over 1,000,000 in 2001. (Industry sources)

There were more than 1.5 million personal bankruptcies filed in 2001. (American Bankruptcy Institute)

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy may stay on your credit report for as long as 10 years. (Equifax, Experian, Trans Union)

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy generally stays on your credit report for 7 years. (Equifax, Experian, Trans Union) Note: During this 7-year period, a bankruptcy in your credit history will likely either eliminate your ability to get credit or make the credit get very expensive in terms of fees and interest rates.

According to an analysis by Sallie Mae, which provides federal and private education loans for undergraduate and graduate students and families, 13% of college students owe between $3,000 and $7,000 on their credit cards.

Eighty-three percent of undergraduate college students have credit cards, a 24% increase since 1998.

The percentage of college students with four or more credit cards nearly doubled in three years to 47% in 2001.

On average, most new college graduates have about $17,000 in federally guaranteed education loans.

Around 41% of graduating college seniors also carry an average credit-card balance of more than $3,000. (State Public Interest Research Groups' (PIRGs) Higher Education Project.)

Adjusted for inflation, the Census Bureau reported that the median household income fell 2.2 percent in 2001 to $42,228. It was the first decline since 1991.

Among the 60% of American cardholders who do not pay off their credit card balance each month, nearly half made just the minimum payment. This means that about one out of four cardholders in the USA now make minimum payments. (Cardweb.com).

Credit card fees paid by consumers jumped 10 percent in 2001 to $13.6 billion and represent the fastest-growing source of revenue for bank-card issuers, according to Credit Card Management, a trade publication.

Late-payment revenues, which have risen from $1.7 billion in 1996 to $7.3 billion, are the third-biggest revenue source for credit card companies, behind interest income and fees paid by merchants who accept credit card payments.

Credit card late fees average nearly $29, up 128 percent from 1995, when the average penalty was $12.64, according to CardWeb. Many credit card companies charge as much as $35 for a late payment. And the larger your balance, the higher your late fee.

According to an informal CardWeb poll, six in 10 credit card holders say they've been hit with a late fee over the past year.

At the end of 2001, 40 percent of credit card holders were paying off their debt each month, compared to 29 percent 11 years earlier.

Credit card issuers mailed a record 5 billion card offers in 2001, according to the research firm BAIGlobal. That's a 42 percent increase from 3.5 billion card offers sent in 2000, which at that time was a record.