CHARLOTTE, N.C.–Approximately one-in-four credit card-holders, or about 50-million Americans, have seen a reduction in their card limits over the past 30 days, according to a new survey by LendingTree’s Compare Cards website.
Those most likely to see a cut in their limits: men between 18-38, the survey found.
Among the findings:
- 3 in 10 cardholders are using credit cards “more than ever” since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic
- 42% are using their credit card the same as before
- 27% are using their card less
- 41% of Americans don’t know that their credit card issuer can generally cut their credit limit without notification
“After analyzing the data from this survey, we were surprised by the large number of cardholders who said they had their credit limit slashed or their credit card closed involuntarily,” Compare Cards said in releasing the findings. “Because of that, we chose to run the survey a second time in order to confirm our findings. After analyzing the second round of data, we were confident in presenting the original set of data here. The results showed that nearly 50 million American credit cardholders said they have had their credit limit slashed or their card closed in the past 30 days.”
Of those:
- 37% of Gen Z, 36% of Millennials, and 35% of Gen X cardholders said they were affected. That compares with just 8% of Baby Boomers
- Men (37%) were three times more likely than women (12%) to see their limits cut
- Even 36% of those earning $100,000 or more had their limit slashed or card closed in the past month
Total credit card debt is about $1.1 trillion nationwide and has been growing steadily since 2015, Federal Reserve data show. As CUToday.info reported earlier, payment delinquencies were at a seven-year high just before the pandemic.