Experian’s National Score Index Shows 14 percent of U.S. Population Has More Than 10 Credit Cards
Credit card study also finds more than 14 percent of U.S. consumers
use 50 percent or more of their available credit; Alaska and Hawaii top
the list in credit utilization
Irvine, Calif., Feb. 15, 2007 — Approximately 14 percent of the U.S. population has more than 10 credit cards, according to the latest National Score Index®
study by Experian Consumer Direct, the leading provider of online
direct-to-consumer credit reports, scores and monitoring products. The
study examines consumer credit card use on both a statewide and a
national level. For additional survey results, visit Experian’s
National Score Index Web site at www.NationalScoreIndex.com.
The states with the highest percentage of consumers with at least 10
credit cards are New Hampshire and New Jersey, where the average is
approximately 20 percent. More critical to financial management is how
much consumers use the cards they carry. Nationally, one in seven
consumers (14.3 percent) use 50 percent or more of their available
credit. Alaska and Hawaii top this category, with about 17 percent of
their residents using more than 50 percent of their available credit.
Overall the study found the following:
U.S. consumers have an average of four credit cards
Approximately 51 percent of the U.S. population has at least two credit cards
Approximately 14 percent of the U.S. population has more than 10 credit cards
About 14 percent of the U.S. population uses at least 50 percent of their available credit
U.S. consumers who use at least 50 percent of their available credit carry an average of 6.6 credit cards
The
national average credit score for those with credit card utilization of
at least 50 percent is 645, compared with the overall national average
of 674
“Using credit cards to purchase items now and pay them off over time
is a convenient way for consumers to get the items they want or need
that they may have never been able to afford if they had to pay in full
at the time of purchase,” said Ty Taylor, president of Experian
Consumer Direct. “Although credit is convenient, consumers should keep
in mind that good credit management means being able to pay on time
each month and paying off debt in a reasonable amount of time. Maxing
out credit cards may also have a negative effect on their credit
score.”
Experian Consumer Direct empowers consumers by offering products and information through Web sites such as www.FreeCreditReport.com
to help them proactively manage their personal finances conveniently
and securely online. Products include credit reports from all three
national credit reporting companies, credit score reports that show the
positive and negative factors that affect a consumer’s credit score,
and credit monitoring products that provide daily monitoring of their
Experian credit report or all three national credit reports.
More information about Experian’s National Score Index study plus
additional credit data at the state and local levels can be found at www.NationalScoreIndex.com . This study used Experian data as of November 2006.
About Experian’s National Score Index
Experian’s National Score Index study is based on a nationwide sampling
of 3 million consumer credit files. Using the PLUS Score®
model, the national average credit score for November 2006 was 674 and
for December 2006 it was 673. Experian’s National Score Index Web site
is updated monthly with the most recent Experian data on U.S.
consumers’ credit and is a powerful indicator of the nation’s overall
financial health. In addition to providing average credit scores for
the nation, regions, states and local areas, the National Score Index
monitors several other components of consumer credit behavior,
including average debt, credit utilization, late payments and credit
inquiries.
