According to a report released by TransUnion.com, a site monitoring national credit card debt averages, the residents of Florida are carrying higher balances than the rest of the nation. In fact, more Floridians are likely to become delinquent on their credit cards than residents of other states, ranked at 1.71%.
The report stated that the average Florida resident’s credit card debt in the fourth quarter of 2008 was approximately $6,500. While nationwide, this number was only about $5,700.
The number of people across the nation who were behind in their payment by three months or more actually dropped 11% from the fourth quarter in 2007 to 2008. The TransUnion.com report also mentioned Nevada, the state with the highest delinquency rate on card payments. Specifically, the ratio of cardholders who were three months or more delinquent added up to 2.04%. Below Florida, in third place, Arizona has a delinquency rate of about 1.54%.
Conversely, the lowest average card debt in the nation belonged to Iowa at $4,267. Just above Iowa were North Dakota and West Virginia with $4,414 and $4,555 respectively.
During the final quarter of 2008, the states that experienced the most dramatic increases in average debt included Arkansas, Mississippi, and South Carolina, ranging between 4.2 and 2.9%. Alaska, on the other hand, experienced the a decline of about 4.6% followed by Washington D.C. at 2.7% and Washington State at 1.6%.
As unemployment rates increase, and few consumers are expressing much confidence and lacking less per capita disposable income, the likelihood that larger delinquency rates among cardholders will emerge is growing.
The increases in the national averages may be an indication that the actions of many financial institutions to regulate their individual card portfolios may be having a balancing effect on the inherent risks of default, says compilers of the TransUnion.com report.
Along with the aggressive measures of banks it may be that American consumers are taking a leading role in adjusting their spending habits in order to be more mindful of their credit obligations. In other words, more cardholders are making an effort to pay their payments on time than previously. Still, many analysts predict further increases in credit card delinquencies in 2009.
Tags: national average debt, florida debtA TransUnion spokesperson put the results of the report into perspective: “If the administration’s bailout package gains sufficient traction, the credit card delinquency rate could peak in early 2010 and begin to move downward as the unemployment rate begins to fall and the drop in disposable income levels off.”
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