Revolving consumer credit slipped a bit in April, dropping a tad below $796 billion. Americans shaved off $500 million in revolving credit during April compared to $2.6 billion one-year ago. Monthly payment rates continue to dampen growth in credit card debt. The higher payment rates are a combination of low interest rates for mortgages/home equity, improved consumer credit score knowledge, and rising debit card usage. According to the Federal Reserve, Americans owed $795.9 billion in revolving credit at the end of April, compared to $796.9 billion for January. One-year ago revolving credit stood at approximately $740.9 billion. The annual growth rate is now a negative 0.6%, compared to a negative 0.9% in the previous month, and -5.3% one-year ago. Bank credit card debt (excluding store and gas credit cards) at the end of the first quarter was about $659 billion, or roughly 83% of total revolving credit, according to CardData (www.carddata.com). At the end of April, Americans were $2130.5 billion in debt, excluding home mortgages.
| REVOLVING CREDIT HISTORICAL ($billions) |
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| Apr 05 | Mar 05 | Feb 05 | Jan 05 | Dec 04 | Nov 04 | Apr 04 |
| GRWTH: | -0.6% | -0.9 | 1.9 | 6.3 | 3.8 | 0.9 | -5.3 |
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| $OWED: | $795.9 | 796.4 | 796.9 | 796.9 | 793.0 | 784.0 | 740.9 |
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| Source: Federal Reserve; revised figures as of 5/06/05; |
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| For complete historical data, visit CardData (www.carddata.com) |
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