MIAMI—Should credit unions be carefully watching credit card portfolios for a rapid rise in delinquencies—especially due to rising costs related to the Trump tariffs?
A new credit card debt study from WalletHub reveals that 47% consumers are concerned over their credit card balances rising due to the tariffs.
WalletHub analyzed Federal Reserve data that was just released and found that credit card debt dropped by $61 billion to start the year, falling to $1.30 trillion in February 2025.
Despite the average credit card APR decreasing due to the Fed's rate cuts last year, WalletHub projects that credit card debt will increase by $100 billion by the end of 2025.
“Although credit card debt is trending downward, we definitely aren’t out of the woods yet,” said WalletHub Editor John Kiernan. “We still collectively owe well over $1 trillion, and 25% of people expect to have more debt by the end of the year, according to WalletHub research. To make matters worse, 46% of Americans don’t have a plan for paying off what they owe, and new technology doesn’t even figure to be much help, as nearly four in five people don’t trust AI for information about managing credit card debt. What people really need is a well-thought-out budget that maximizes debt payments. Instead, we’re hoping tariffs don’t hit us too hard and wishing for a federal interest rate cap.”