Credit Card Default Statistics 2026: Delinquency at 2.9%, Charge-Offs at 4.1%
Credit card delinquency is 2.9% as of 2025-Q4 — down from the 3.2% 2024 peak but still above the 2.6% pre-pandemic level. Charge-offs are running 4.1%, writing off debt at the fastest pace since 2011. Small-bank delinquency at 6.6% is roughly 2x the big-bank rate — a K-shaped credit story hiding inside the national average. Federal Reserve data, updated quarterly.
What Is the Credit Card Delinquency Rate in 2026?
The credit card delinquency rate is 2.9% as of 2025-Q4, according to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (series DRCCLACBS via FRED). That's down from the 3.2% peak reached during 2024 but still 0.36 percentage points above the 2.6% pre-pandemic baseline.
The headline moderation is partly mechanical. When a credit card account gets charged off (typically at 180 days past due), it exits the delinquency denominator. The rate falls even if the underlying borrower situation hasn't improved. The charge-off rate itself is 4.1% — banks are writing off credit card debt at the fastest pace since 2011. Meanwhile, small-bank delinquency (banks outside the top 100) is running at 6.6%, where the stress is concentrating. The American Distress Index currently reads 64.4 (Elevated).
Key Credit Card Default Statistics at a Glance
Credit card delinquency is the ADI's most-watched Debt Stress component alongside mortgage delinquency (Debt Stress carries 41.6% of the composite weight). Credit cards are typically the first debt type households fall behind on when the buffer runs thin — see The Buffer for the leading-indicator relationship. Validated research shows buffer depletion today predicts credit card delinquency nine quarters later.
How Does Credit Card Delinquency Compare to 2008?
The current 2.9% rate is well below the GFC-era peak of 6.8% reached in Q2 2009. What the full-history chart obscures is the structural shift in the denominator. Post-2008 regulatory changes raised underwriting standards across the top-tier card issuers, concentrating subprime exposure at smaller banks. The aggregate rate moderated as a result. Small-bank delinquency (banks outside the top 100) runs at 6.6% today — a 3.7-point spread above the broader rate, and the cleaner measure of where the stress is actually showing up.
Credit Card Delinquency Rate, All Commercial Banks (%)
Source: Board of Governors via FRED, DRCCLACBS. Quarterly, 2000–present.
Full data: Credit Card Delinquency indicator page
What Has Credit Card Delinquency Done Since 2019?
The post-pandemic trajectory tells a sharper story. The 1.5% trough in Q3 2021 was artificial — stimulus checks, enhanced unemployment benefits, and deferred payment programs temporarily suppressed defaults. Since those programs ended, credit card delinquency rose for roughly two years, peaked at 3.2% in 2024, and is now easing as charge-offs absorb the backlog. The critical frame: 2.9% is still 0.36 percentage points above the 2019 baseline, and the charge-off rate at 4.1% shows the cost of that backlog landing on bank balance sheets.
Credit Card Delinquency, 2019–Present (%)
Source: Board of Governors via FRED, DRCCLACBS. Quarterly.
Why Does the Delinquency-to-Charge-Off Gap Matter?
Delinquency and charge-offs measure different stages of the same credit cycle. Delinquency captures accounts currently past due. Charge-offs capture accounts the bank has given up on recovering. Charge-offs lag delinquencies by roughly 3-4 quarters.
The Payment Hierarchy
Credit cards occupy a specific position in household payment priority. When money gets tight, households typically:
- Skip credit card payments first — unsecured, no immediate consequence beyond fees and score damage
- Fall behind on medical bills
- Delay utility payments
- Miss auto loan payments (late-stage — repossession risk)
- Miss mortgage payments (last resort — foreclosure risk)
This hierarchy makes credit card delinquency an early warning of broader household distress. When credit card delinquency rises, auto and mortgage delinquency tend to follow 2-4 quarters later. The current combination — elevated credit card delinquency, rising auto delinquency, stable conventional mortgage delinquency, but elevated FHA delinquency — shows where in the cycle different borrower segments sit.
How Do Consumer Debt Indicators Compare?
Four measurements capture the distress across consumer credit. Aggregate credit card delinquency smooths across bank types. The small-bank series reveals the subprime-skewed distribution. Charge-offs show what's hitting balance sheets. Auto delinquency sits one step further along the payment hierarchy.
| Indicator | Current | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit card delinquency (all banks) | 2.9% | 2025-Q4 | FRED DRCCLACBS |
| Credit card delinquency (banks outside top 100) | 6.6% | 2025-Q4 | FRED DRCCLOBS |
| Credit card charge-off rate | 4.1% | 2025-Q4 | FRED CORCCACBS |
| Auto loan serious delinquency (90+ days) | 5.2% | 2025-Q4 | NY Fed / Equifax |
Federal Reserve data is weighted by loan balance and covers all commercial banks reporting to the Federal Reserve. The NY Fed auto delinquency rate is based on the Equifax Consumer Credit Panel (5% nationally representative sample).
See also: Auto Loan Delinquency Statistics and Consumer Debt Statistics 2026.
Credit Card Delinquency: Recent Quarterly Data
| Quarter | Delinquency Rate | Year-Over-Year Change |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2024 | 3.2% | +0.70 pp |
| Q2 2024 | 3.2% | +0.47 pp |
| Q3 2024 | 3.2% | +0.26 pp |
| Q4 2024 | 3.1% | -0.02 pp |
| Q1 2025 | 3.1% | -0.11 pp |
| Q2 2025 | 3.0% | -0.18 pp |
| Q3 2025 | 3.0% | -0.22 pp |
| Q4 2025 | 2.9% | -0.14 pp |
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Delinquency Rate on Credit Card Loans, All Commercial Banks (DRCCLACBS). Quarterly, released approximately 8 weeks after quarter end.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current credit card delinquency rate?
The credit card delinquency rate at all commercial banks is 2.9% as of 2025-Q4, according to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (series DRCCLACBS via FRED). That's down from the 3.2% 2024 peak but still above the pre-pandemic baseline of 2.6% (2019-Q4).
Why is credit card delinquency falling if households are still stressed?
Part of the moderation is mechanical. When a credit card account reaches 180 days past due it gets charged off and exits the delinquency denominator, which lowers the reported rate even if the borrower's situation hasn't improved. The charge-off rate itself is 4.1%, the highest since 2011, showing the cost of that processing landing on bank balance sheets.
What's the difference between delinquency and charge-offs?
Delinquency measures accounts currently past due (typically 30+ or 90+ days). Charge-offs measure accounts the lender has given up recovering (typically 180+ days past due). Charge-offs lag delinquencies by 3-4 quarters. When the charge-off rate climbs in step with delinquency, lenders are writing the bad loans down as real losses. The earlier delinquency spike was real distress, now confirmed on bank balance sheets.
Why is small-bank credit card delinquency higher than the national rate?
The series for banks outside the top 100 (DRCCLOBS) runs at 6.6% — roughly 3.7 percentage points above the aggregate 2.9% rate. Top-tier issuers tightened underwriting after 2008, concentrating subprime card exposure at smaller banks. The small-bank series is the cleaner measure of where stress actually sits in the credit card population.
Where does credit card delinquency data come from?
The primary source is the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, which reports quarterly delinquency and charge-off rates for credit card loans at all commercial banks via the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Reports). The canonical series is DRCCLACBS, available through the Federal Reserve's FRED database. The NY Fed's Household Debt and Credit Report provides an alternative measure based on the Equifax Consumer Credit Panel.
Data Sources and Methodology
FRED DRCCLACBS (All Commercial Banks)
Delinquency rate on credit card loans from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Measures balances 30+ days past due as a percentage of total outstanding card balances. Reported quarterly based on Call Report filings.
FRED CORCCACBS (Charge-Off Rate)
Credit card charge-off rate at all commercial banks. Measures the annualized dollar volume of charged-off credit card loans as a percentage of average outstanding card balances. Charge-offs typically occur at 180 days past due.
FRED DRCCLOBS (Small Banks)
Credit card delinquency rate at banks outside the top 100 by domestic assets. This series reveals the subprime-skewed distribution that the aggregate DRCCLACBS rate smooths over. Small-bank card books are typically weighted toward higher-risk borrowers.