Credit card use continued to grow in 2024 and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s latest biennial credit card market report offers several signals that collection professionals should be watching closely. While overall balances and spending reached new highs, the CFPB found that growth is increasingly concentrated among higher-income, higher-credit-score consumers, even as payment stress quietly spreads across multiple credit tiers.
What the CFPB Data Signals for Collections
From a collections perspective, the most notable takeaway is rising strain beneath the surface:
- Minimum payments are climbing: The share of cardholders making only the minimum payment reached its highest level since at least 2015. Importantly, the increase was not limited to subprime borrowers; prime and near-prime consumers also showed notable growth in minimum-payment behavior.
- Balances remain elevated: Total credit card balances topped $1.2 trillion in 2024, with the average cardholder carrying roughly $5,300. Among prime borrowers, average balances were closer to $8,700, suggesting greater exposure if economic conditions tighten.
- Delinquencies stabilized, but risk remains: While delinquencies and charge-offs peaked in early 2024 and eased back toward pre-pandemic levels by year-end, the CFPB notes that many households are operating with less margin for error than in prior years.
Market Segmentation Is Deepening
The report also highlights growing issuer segmentation with downstream implications for collections:
- Institutions with less than $100 billion in assets hold more than half of all below-prime balances, while the largest issuers dominate the superprime segment.
- Larger issuers continue to use aggressive rewards and benefits to attract top-tier borrowers, while smaller issuers rely more on pricing discipline and risk controls.
This divide may shape the types of accounts entering collections and the strategies required to manage them effectively.
Other Trends to Watch
Beyond collections, the CFPB flagged several developments relevant to creditors and servicers:
- Interest rates at record levels: Average APRs reached 25.2% for general-purpose cards and over 31% for private-label cards, contributing to $160 billion in consumer interest charges in 2024.
- Promotional 0% APR offers remain widespread, but accounts with these promotions tend to carry higher long-term balances.
- Technology and alternative payments—including AI-driven servicing tools, pay-by-bank options, and stablecoins—could reshape issuer economics and consumer behavior over time.
Taken together, the report paints a picture of a mature but increasingly segmented credit card market — one where collection strategies, consumer engagement, and risk monitoring may need to adapt quickly as financial pressure builds across more of the credit spectrum.
