California shoppers last year aggressively used their plastic to keep on shopping.
Golden State credit card balances at the end of 2023 were equal to $4,450 per resident, says the New York Fed. That’s the 11th-highest card usage among the states.
But to my trusty spreadsheet, it’s the jump in the balances that’s eye-catching – up 34% in two years. Equally stunning: That surge was only the 20th-biggest leap nationwide.
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You see, Californians are not the only Americans swiping more. Credit-card users nationwide had balances of $3,950 per capita in 2023, up 29% in two years.
Credit card usage has surged as consumers spent the last of their pandemic-era stimulus funds and inflation rapidly raised the cost of daily life.
What’s most worrisome is that paying those plastic debts also became a challenge.
At year-end 2023, 10.23% of California credit card balances were 90-days late or worse, the 12th-highest delinquency rate in the nation. And that tardiness grew by 2.33 percentage points from 7.9% a year earlier, the No. 8 jump among the states.
Nationwide, 9.66% of card balances were delinquent last year – up 2.13 percentage points in 12 months.
By the way, the last time California’s skipped card payments were higher – before the pandemic – was 2013. Nationally, it was 2012.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com