MoneyWise :: Lower credit card debt traced mainly to charge-offs

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Released: March 10, 2010

Lower credit card debt traced mainly to charge-offs

Source: Christine Dugas, USA Today

Americans cut more than $93 billion in credit card debt from 2008 to 2009. Good news, right?

It’s not what it seems, according to an analysis of federal data by CardHub.com, a credit card comparison website.

Rather than turning wholly frugal, consumers instead fell further behind on bills in 2009, causing a surge in debt charge-offs, says Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of CardHub.com.

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