Infographic: Americans shed credit cards and debt post-recession

By Juan Rodriguez and Aundraya Ruse

The amount of credit card debt held by Americans sharply fell from 2007 -- the beginning of the recession -- to 2010, according to a closely watched Federal Reserve report,  Survey of Consumer Finances. The data from the survey of nearly 6,500 interviews of U.S. consumers reveals that in 2010, the median amount of debt among households carrying a credit card balance fell to $2,600 from $3,000 in 2007 -- or 16.1 percent. Additionally, the number of cards per household decreased. In 2007, 35 percent of families held four or more credit cards; this fell to 32.7 percent in 2010.

The survey is released every three years. The 2010 data was released in June 2012.

 <center><a href=http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/infographic-recession-shrinks-card-debt-1701.php><img alt="CreditCards.com Infographic: Americans shed credit cards and debt post-recession" border="0" src="http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/images/infographic-median-cc-debt-lg.jpg" height="486" width="344" /></a> </center>

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Published: June 21, 2012

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