美国消费者金融保护局CFPB消费者信用卡市场报告英文版178页.pdfVIP

BUREAUOFCONSUMERFINANCIALPROTECTION|SEPTEMBER2021

TheConsumerCreditCard

Market

Messagefrom

theActingDirector

Creditcardsareoneofthemostcommonly-heldandwidely-

usedfinancialproductsinAmerica—over175million

Americansholdatleastonecreditcard.DuringtheCOVID-19

pandemic,creditcardsplayedavitalroleasbothasourceof

creditinemergenciesandapaymentmethodasmore

transactionsoccurredonline.

AsthefifthbiennialreporttoCongressonthecreditcard

market,thisreportdetailshowswiftactionsbyboththepublicandprivatesectorslikely

impactedhowmanyconsumersusedtheircreditcardsandmanagedtheirdebtsduringthe

pandemic.ToaddresshardshipscausedbyCOVID-19,theFederalgovernmentprovided

consumersdirectreliefbyissuingaseriesofeconomicimpactpayments,providingenhanced

unemploymentbenefits,suspendingstudentloanpaymentsandinterestaccrualforfederally

heldloans,offeringmortgageforbearance,andenactingamoratoriumonevictions.Atthesame

time,creditcardissuersprovidedvoluntaryrelieftoconsumersbyofferingpaymentdeferral

andfeewaivers.

Supportedbytheseefforts,thisreportfindsthatthedeclineincreditcarddebtduringthe

pandemicwasunprecedentedinspeedandmagnitude.Measuresofconsumerstress,suchas

latepaymentincidenceandtheshareofaccountsdelinquent,hitrecordlows.

Thisreportalsohighlightsareasinthecreditcardmarketthatmayentailrisksforconsumers

suchassystemdeficienciesrelatedtoimplementingreliefprogramsandautomaticpayment

processes.TheBureaucontinuestomonitorindicatorsofcreditcarduse,cost,andavailability

toidentifypotentialforconsumerharm,aswellasstudytheimpactofnew,innovativeproducts.

Ourcreditcardmarketreportisintendedtopresentthelatestresearchonthisvitalmarketto

consumers,issuers,andpolicymakers.Asmanyconsumers,particularlythosewith