One-third of all consumers owe at least $250,000 in debt — when factoring in mortgages and auto loans — while half of the population owe less than $250,000, and the remaining 17% are carrying no debt at all, according to a newly released report. Of those who are carrying at least $250,000 in debt, 30% of them are falling behind on their bills and have payments that are overdue.
While high-debt consumers are less likely to make late payments than the average consumer, those carrying high levels of debt have twice as many missed payments than those with no debt or low amounts of debt, according to the study. Overall, 30% of high-debt consumers make payments late, compared with 33% of average consumers.
More than one-third of consumers who have credit score issues have used a credit-building app in the past year. Consumers carrying higher amounts of debt were more likely to use this kind of app or service, compared with consumers carrying lower amounts of debt.
With interest rates continuing to rise and the amount of consumer credit outstanding growing faster than ever — the total amount of credit card debt in the United States is now north of $1 trillion, there could be a reckoning on the horizon for consumers. If they have to allocate more of their monthly budgets to paying off their current debts, will they have anything left over for old debts? On top of that, 43 million Americans just started repaying their student loans again. Getting consumers into settlements or payment plans now might be more important than ever for companies in the accounts receivable management industry.
