Americans Increasingly Can’t Afford Credit Card Payments as Delinquencies Hit Record Highs

‘Further performance deterioration could be on the horizon,’ a Fed report warns.

Credit cards in a photo illustration. Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Americans are having more difficulty making payments on their credit card debt, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve, which shows credit card delinquencies surging to a record high.

The share of credit card accounts with past due debt payments has reached all-time highs at every time horizon—30 days, 60 days, and 90 days—according to fourth-quarter 2023 data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, which were released on April 10.