Americans Owe Less on Their Credit Cards

ATLANTA, Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Equifax (NYSE: EFX) reported today that nearly 60 of the top 100 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) hardest hit by credit card debt realized double-digit declines in the percentage of income owed to credit card companies—nearly 24 percent in some areas*.

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The cities with the most sizable reductions are clustered in four states across the country: Florida, Louisiana, Washington and California.  Florida tops the list as the state with the most cities—five— realizing the largest declines.

"It is interesting that MSAs from some of the states hardest hit by the recession showed some of the biggest reductions in credit card debt," said Trey Loughran, President of Equifax's Personal Solutions business. "This suggests that consumers from these hardest hit areas have been especially cautious in their spending and diligent in paying down their credit card debt."

Comparing percentage of income owed to credit card companies between Q4 2010 and Q4 2011, the following MSAs realized the largest year-over-year declines for the country. 

• FL:  Port St. Lucie – 23.59%
• FL:  Ocala, FL – 20.97%
• WA:  Bremerton-Silverdale – 20.62% 
• LA:  Shreveport-Bossier City – 20.10%
• CA:  Bakersfield-Delano – 19.05%
• FL:  Northport-Bradenton-Sarasota – 18.44%
• FL:  Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – 18.43%
• FL:  Lakeland-Winter Haven – 18.32%
• CA: Salinas, CA – 17.85%

The reduction in U.S. consumer credit card debt began a steady decline in the fourth quarter of 2010 that continued through the end of 2011, as consumers remained cautious of their spending and focused on deleveraging debt.  Consumers owed up to 17 percent of their income to credit card companies in 2010, according to Equifax's analysis.

Equifax reports that while total consumer debt (mortgage, auto, credit card, etc.) has declined nearly 11 percent from its peak of $12.4 trillion in October of 2008, American households still owe more than $800 billion in debt to credit card companies alone - irrespective of other debts such as mortgages or student loans**.

Following is the list  of the MSAs with the most sizable changes in the percentage of income owed to credit card companies, comparing year-over-year fourth quarter data:

About Equifax

Equifax Personal Solutions empowers consumers with the confidence and control to be their financial best. Find out more about Equifax's innovative suite of credit monitoring and identity theft products designed to enable consumers to maximize their financial well-being at www.equifax.com. Get smart information on everything from credit to retirement, all in one place at the Equifax Finance Blog, blog.equifax.com.

Equifax is a global leader in consumer, commercial and workforce information solutions, providing businesses of all sizes and consumers with information they can trust. We organize and assimilate data on more than 500 million consumers and 81 million businesses worldwide, and use advanced analytics and proprietary technology to create and deliver customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Equifax operates or has investments in 17 countries and is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500® Index. Its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. For more information, please visit www.equifax.com.

*The Equifax National Credit Trends Report is the source of the research highlighted above. Distributed to customers, this monthly report provides aggregated credit trend data for bankcard, consumer finance/retail, auto finance, auto bank, home equity revolving and first mortgage loans, among other metrics.

For this research, Equifax analyzed quarterly anonymized data on consumers with more than one tradeline (installment loan or revolving account) on their credit file. The information is sourced from a sample of the Equifax credit database and applied to predict trends across the overall population.

For more than a decade, Equifax Analytical Services has provided analytic solutions to businesses. Using a wide range of statistical techniques, our consultants design, develop and implement custom analysis and credit scores and generic analytical models for target marketing and portfolio management programs. With Equifax Analytical Services, customers can gain access to economic, demographic and general credit trend data through creditforecast.com, a forecasting tool built by Equifax and Moody's Analytics.

**Statistical reference based on consumer credit data from the Federal Reserve Board's G.19 release which can be found at http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/current.

SOURCE Equifax