Debt Stress

Charge-Off Rate on Credit Card Loans

Credit card debt written off as uncollectable

What is the current Charge-Off Rate on Credit Card Loans reading?

CREDIT CARD CHARGE-OFF RATE
3.84% ↓ Improving
of credit card balances charged off as losses
One year ago
4.46% ↓ Improving
down 0.6 percentage points since Q1 2025

The annualized net charge-off rate on credit card loans was 3.84% in Q1 2026, according to Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Call Report data. It expresses net charge-offs as a percentage of average credit card loan balances. This aggregate rate is separate from delinquency and does not show an individual account's payment sequence or why a balance was charged off.

Banks are writing off credit card debt at 3.84% — a level last sustained in 2011, compared with 1.63% during the pandemic era.

The Federal Reserve credit-card charge-off rate measures annualized net charge-offs as a percentage of average credit card loan balances at all commercial banks. It is a separate aggregate measurement from delinquency and does not describe an individual account's collection history or payment sequence.

The rate was 1.63% in Q4 2021 and reached 4.64% in Q3 2024. It has since moved to 3.84% in Q1 2026. Those observations describe the reported series path; they do not establish why it changed or trace individual accounts from delinquency to charge-off.

Credit Card Delinquency and The 60-Day Line are separate measurements with different populations and past-due thresholds. The bank-population spread is DRCCLOBS minus DRCCLT100S at one matched vintage; it does not locate charge-off losses, describe borrowers, or establish a charge-off timeline.

The credit-card charge-off rate and the broader All-Loan Charge-Off rate have different loan populations. Their reported levels can be compared descriptively with those definitions intact, but neither series by itself establishes why balances were charged off or what happened to an individual household.

Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System data retrieved via FRED · Source data ↗ · Latest: 2026-Q1

Explore Further

How has Charge-Off Rate on Credit Card Loans changed over time?

CSV Chart Card
Credit card charge-offs peaked at 4.6% in July 2024; current reading has eased
Charge-off rate on credit card loans, percentage
Charge-Off Rate on Credit Card Loans
Historical data
Quarterly · Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System data retrieved via FRED (CORCCACBS)
Period Value YoY Change
Q1 2026 3.84% -0.62 pp
Q4 2025 4.07% -0.49 pp
Q3 2025 4.15% -0.49 pp
Q2 2025 4.21% -0.38 pp
Q1 2025 4.46% +0.03 pp
Q4 2024 4.56% +0.39 pp
Q3 2024 4.64% +0.94 pp
Q2 2024 4.59% +1.33 pp
Q1 2024 4.43% +1.55 pp
Q4 2023 4.17% +1.67 pp
Q3 2023 3.7% +1.65 pp
Q2 2023 3.26% +1.37 pp

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a credit card charge-off?

In this Federal Reserve series, the reported measure is annualized net charge-offs on credit card loans as a percentage of average loan balances, aggregated across all commercial banks. It does not timestamp or describe every underlying account.

How does the charge-off rate relate to delinquency?

The delinquency and charge-off rates are separate aggregate series with different numerators. Their levels can be read side by side, but these data alone do not establish a fixed lag, an account-level transition sequence, or a cause.

Where does charge-off data come from?

The Federal Reserve publishes charge-off rates quarterly from bank Call Report filings, aggregated across all commercial banks. The current reading is 3.84% for Q1 2026.

Ross Kilburn
Written by

Ross Kilburn, Founder

American Default Research · Seattle, Washington

Two decades working directly with financially distressed American households — from property preservation in 2003, to negotiating over 1,000 short sales during the Great Recession, to foreclosure defense marketing today. Author, The Ark Law Group Complete Guide to Short Sales (Auroch Press, 2013). Twice named to Puget Sound Business Journal Fast 50 for Ark Law Group. B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1992. Founded American Default Research in 2026 to fill a gap in public data that had been empty since 2013.

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Why does Charge-Off Rate on Credit Card Loans matter?

Charge-Off Rate on Credit Card Loans is one of 98 live indicators tracked by American Default Research. The methodology page explains sources, update cadence, and how the index uses its published inputs.
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