The Credit Crisis Continues

Credit card balances remain elevated from where they were in 2019—balances are 51% higher in October 2020 than they were in 2019.

Both Rhiannon and Jessica relied on credit cards to help keep their families and businesses afloat.

“We were spending more on groceries than normal,” Rhiannon said. “We used credit cards and saved everything we could. We didn’t do any unnecessary spending.”

“My husband’s hours were getting cut,” Jessica said. Her husband works for D.C. Metro and transportation was slowing down. With no idea how long the pandemic would last, and what the economic fallout would be, Jessica decided to hold on to her cash. She used credit cards to keep the business going. As she said, “All I had to leverage was decent credit.”