US Consumers Tap Out: Credit Card Defaults Surge To 4 Year High And It’s Getting Worse

Two weeks ago, when JPMorgan launched Q1 earnings season, we noted that while the results were generally good, one red flag emerged: the company’s credit card charge offs rose to just shy of $1 billion, the highest in four years.

It wasn’t just JPM: all other money-center banks reported similar trends, so we decided to look into it.
What we found was not pretty. According to the latest data from the S&P/Experian Bankcard Default Index, as of March 2017, the default rate on US credit cards had jumped to 3.31%, an increase of 13% from a year ago, and the highest default rate since June 2013.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Apr 26, 2017.