The True Freedom of Credit Cards

Earlier today, we posted about the national average for credit card debt... $8000. We pulled this figure from MSN Money, but like everything - it's open for debate. Personally, I thought the figure was a little low and www.creditcard.com agrees with me. Per their site, the average credit card debt totals $15,788.

This was a really interesting site with some staggering numbers. We'll explore this more indepth in future blogs, but for now - let's talk numbers for the credit card companies.


CREDIT CARDS IN CIRCULATION

• Visa: 270.1 Million
• Mastercard: 203 Million
• American Express: 48.9 Million
• Discover: 54.4 Million

CREDIT PURCHASES / VOLUME

• Visa: $9 Billion
• Mastercard: $5.9 Billion
• American Express: $3.6 Billion
• Discover: $1.6 Billion

Those numbers are so staggering, the figures are virtually unrelatable to most Americans. But consider these numbers:

• 84% of students have credit cards.
• Half of America's undergrads have 4+ credit cards.
• Only 2% of undergraduates have no credit history.

Wow. So out of 10 college students, 8 are going to have credit cards and 4 are going to have 4 or more credit cards.

As we get ready to celebrate Independence Day - think about your credit situation. Are you independent (free of debt) or dependent?