STATISTICS, FACTS, & SUCH

• 68% of people 65 years of age and older pay their credit card bills in full each month. Only 44% of those ranging from 50 to 64 pay theirs in full monthly, according to the Gallup Organization Inc. CardForum.com, "The Graying of Card Debt" by Linda Punch
  
  
• Card holders between the ages of 55 and 64 usually have three credit cards and are about $7,000 in debt. Those who are 65 or over have two cards, and only $433 debt. Ibid.
  
  
• More than 40% of credit card chargeoffs are due to bankruptcies. 17.3% of those filing for bankruptcy are people 35 to 39 years old. People 65 and older averaged 1.5% of the total bankruptcies filed. CardForum.com
  
  
• In 1998, 1% of U.S. consumers viewed electronic billing statements online. In 2002, 20% did. 2% of those who viewed them online in 1998 paid their bills online. In 2002, 13% of all U.S. consumers used online bill payment, paying an average of 3.7 bills per month. However, 41% of online banking users still prefer to write checks and use the U.S. mail for bill payment purposes. TowerGroup, Needham, MA-survey of 4,000 households, 12/4/02, PRNewswire "2002 Market Survey Results: Consumers Speak Out About Online Bill Payment and EBPP"
  
  
• Credit card fraud now tops $4 billion annually in the U.S. alone. www.hypercom.com, Phoenix (Business Wire) 12/3/02
  
  
• McDonald's says their move to accept plastic instead of cash for payment is because they want to accommodate customers who don't want to carry cash; they can now offer frequent flier miles and other perks with the purchase; and improved high speed connections make card purchases faster than cash payments. Five seconds for plastic compared to 10 seconds for cash. Wall Street Journal, 11/27/02
  
  
• Though over 50% of teens do not know how credit cards work, according to the National Consumers League, 58% of them plan to get their first credit card while they are in college.

Copyright © 2003 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 12, No. 12, 3/03