Credit Sesame Personal Finance and Credit Survey Reveals America’s Credit Use is Rising at the Wrong Time

Survey indicates Americans’ credit use has increased from this time last year, rising inflation and interest rates makes credit use more expensive

SAN FRANCISCO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Financial wellness platform Credit Sesame conducted a Personal Finance and Credit survey designed to assess the effect of inflation on Americans and their credit in the past year. Survey results show that Americans are relying on credit cards more than ever to cope with the rising cost of goods and services, with more people preferring credit cards over debit cards, an increase from May 2021. The percentage of Americans using over half their credit limit has also increased 9 percentage points from this time last year.

Late payments on credit cards increased by 50% in the past year, from 10% in 2021 to 15% in 2022. This fact combined with the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by 0.75%, the most since 1994, means Americans are not only feeling the pinch from inflation but also having to pay more just to use their credit cards to make ends meet.

Additionally, the survey found that many Americans are misinformed or uninformed about credit and their individual credit scores. Results showed that approximately 1 in 6 Americans do not know their credit scores, and 40% of respondents didn’t know that lenders use credit scores to evaluate ability to repay loans.

Other select findings from the survey include:

• The number of people spending over 90% of their paycheck for month-to-month…