Episode
News Pod #11 - Are Credit Card Balances At A Record High Or Flat Over The Last 10 Years?
- Podcast
- The Free Toaster
- Published
- Mar 20, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1245
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Summary
Carlos and Nick sit with Kelvin Chen, Head of Policy at the Consumer Bankers Association. We discuss Kelvin's recent post on LinkedIn that challenges a commonly cited fact in the media that credit card balances are at record highs.Kelvin's LinkedIn post below: "Is the consumer in trouble, or is the math just misleading? 🤔Multiple times a day, we hear affordability stories about consumers struggling with "record-high" credit card debt ($1.28 trillion). But that math is missing two massive variables:💳 39 million more cardholders since 2017.📈 A 40% increase in the cost of goods since 2014 ($1.00 then = $1.40 today).Once you adjust for inflation and a larger cardholder base, the real per-cardholder balance has actually stayed flat—and even dipped by about $75—over the last decade.At CBA, we believe serious debate requires starting from the same facts. That’s why we’ve published this analysis using public data—with the methodology open and the math checkable by anyone.Skeptical of research from a trade association? Good. That skepticism is why we’ve published every assumption.Read more here: https://consumerbankers.com/blog/facts-matter-once-adjusted-for-inflation-consumers-credit-card-balances-have-remained-largely-flat-for-a-decade/ " ***** Sign up for The Free Toaster Newsletter (www.thefreetoaster.com) to get our curated news at the intersection of consumer lending & marketing, published every Wednesday.And then come here on Fridays to get our hot takes on a select story (or two) from that edition. ***** To support The Free Toaster Podcast, please visit our sponsors: A word from our sponsor, Bulldog Media Group:Bulldog Media Group is a leading performance marketing company that specializes in online customer acquisition for clients in the financial services industry…