One in Eight Credit Card Dollars Is Seriously Overdue

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York published the numbers on May 12, 2026. They are not good.

13.1% of all U.S. credit card balances are at least 90 days past due. That's the highest rate since the tail end of the 2008 financial crisis. The previous peak was 13.7% in late 2010. We are closing in on it fast.

This is NOT a blip. According to data cited by Crypto Briefing, serious credit card delinquencies have climbed 5.5 percentage points since Q3 2022. That pace of deterioration is actually faster than what happened during the 2007–2010 financial crisis.

The Full Picture Is Worse Than the Headlines

Credit cards aren't the only problem. Consumer advocacy group Protect Borrowers, cited by Joe My God, laid out the complete damage from the NY Fed report:

• Auto loan delinquencies hit an all-time high — the worst the NY Fed has ever recorded.
• Student loan delinquency reached 10.3%, the worst since before the COVID-era payment pause. Serious student loan delinquency — 90-plus days — jumped from 8.0% to 10.9% in just one year.
• Total household debt is $18.8 trillion, up $591 billion from Q1 2025. Americans added $18 billion in new debt in just the final quarter of 2025 alone.

Delinquency rates increased for every single credit type tracked by the NY Fed since Q4 2025. Every one.

Balances Are Falling. Delinquencies Are Rising. That's a Bad Combination.

According to Crypto Briefing's analysis of the NY Fed data, total credit card balances actually ticked down slightly from the prior quarter, sitting at roughly $1.25 trillion.

So consumers aren't piling on new debt at the same rate. They're just drowning in the debt they already have. Balances going down while delinquencies go up means people aren't spending their way out — they're falling behind on what they already owe.

The overall household delinquency rate sits at around 4.8%, per the NY Fed. Credit cards — unsecured revolving debt with sky-high interest rates — are always the first thing that breaks when household budgets get squeezed. Mortgages and auto loans come next.

Who's Getting Crushed

Low-income households are getting hit hardest. That tracks historically. According to Crypto Briefing's analysis, affluent ZIP codes are also seeing notable delinquency increases. After 2008, the pain was concentrated in subprime borrowers and underwater homeowners. This time the stress is spreading up the income ladder.

CBS News reported that inflation is the fuel on this fire. Glenn Williams, CEO of Primerica, told CBS: "If gas prices stay elevated, middle-income families will likely face more tradeoffs." Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC, put it starker: "After adjusting for inflation, household income is down more than 1% over the past year — the type of drop normally associated with recession."

The U.S. personal savings rate fell to 2.6% as of the latest PCE data, according to CBS News — a 22-year low. A year ago it was 5.5%. Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, flagged that number. Americans have burned through their savings buffers and are now falling behind on their bills.

The Political Context

Left-leaning outlets are pinning this squarely on the Trump administration's policies. Serious credit card delinquencies have been climbing since Q3 2022, which is squarely during the Biden administration's inflation surge. The trajectory predates Trump's second term by years.

Right-leaning outlets aren't covering this aggressively enough. The data shows American consumers are in serious financial stress right now, regardless of who is in office.

Frank Luntz posted a summary on May 14, 2026: "Americans have hit decade-high delinquency rates on credit card, student loan, and car loan debt." Those are the NY Fed's own numbers.

What This Means for You

Consumer spending drives roughly 70% of U.S. GDP, according to CBS News. When one in eight credit card dollars is seriously delinquent, when auto defaults are at all-time highs, and when the savings rate is the lowest in two decades — the engine of the American economy is under strain.

The 2010 peak was 13.7%. We are at 13.1% and climbing. Nobody in Washington is talking about this with the urgency it deserves.

Regular people are making impossible choices between groceries, gas, and minimum payments. The Fed's data shows a trend line pointing in one direction.

One more quarter like this and we hit a record.