US Credit Card Trends: Delinquencies & Balances
Credit-card trouble can begin years before a payment is missed.
New York Fed researchers found that the average median credit score at new-card issuance was 688 in 2020–22, versus 699 in 2017–19. Cards from that pandemic-era cohort later contributed a sizable share of newly serious delinquencies in 2023–24. Their influence is now fading.
Meanwhile, U.S. credit-card balances rose $22B in Q3 2026, but the annualized share of card balances newly becoming 90+ days late was 6.87%, versus 7.05% a year earlier.
More debt does not automatically mean faster payment deterioration. Inflation, interest costs and uneven stress across income neighborhoods still matter; the Fed's analysis does not prove underwriting alone caused the cycle.
