U.S. credit card outstandings edged up slightly in the second quarter driven by solid gains from Discover and American Express. Overall, the aggregate year-on-year (Y/Y) gain among the nation’s top six credit card issuers was a meager 1.1%. At mid-year the top six issuers: Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BofA), Capital One (COF), Citibank (Citi), American Express (AXP) and Discover (DS), posted a collective $464 billion in U.S. credit card outstandings, compared to $451 billion in the prior quarter and $459 billion one-year ago.
DS is the fastest growing credit card issuer, based on outstandings, rising 5.8% Y/Y with AXP in second place with a 5.7% Y/Y increase, according to CardData. Among the top Visa and MasterCard issuers only JPM and COF posted Y/Y gains, 1.5% and 1.0%, respectively. Citi declined 2.9% Y/Y and BofA slipped 1.7%.
According to the latest figures released by the Federal Reserve in July, the annual rate of growth of U.S. revolving debt (90% credit card) slowed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.3% in June.
For the second quarter, DS reported a 5.8% Y/Y increase in U.S. consumer bank credit card EOP outstandings to $52.7 billion, compared to $50.9 billion in the prior quarter, and $49.8 billion one-year ago.
For Q2/14, AXP reported a 5.7% Y/Y increase in U.S. bank credit card EOP outstandings to $57.7 billion, compared to $55.8 billion in the prior quarter, and $54.6 billion one-year ago.
For the second quarter, JPM reported a 1.4% Y/Y gain in bank credit card EOP outstandings to $126.1 billion, compared to $121.8 billion in the prior quarter, and $124.2 billion one-year ago.
For Q2/14, BofA reported a 1.7% Y/Y decline in U.S. consumer bank credit card EOP outstandings to $89.0 billion, compared to $87.7 billion in the prior quarter, and $90.5 billion one-year ago.
For the second quarter, COF reported a 1.0% Y/Y gain in U.S.bank credit card EOP outstandings to $71.2 billion, compared to $68.3 billion in the prior quarter, and $70.5 billion one-year ago.
For Q2/14, Citi reported a 2.9% Y/Y decline in North America bank credit card EOP outstandings to $67.3 billion, compared to $66.8 billion in the prior quarter, and $69.3 billion one-year ago.
RAM Research projects aggregate bank credit card EOP outstandings among the nation’s top six issuers will grow slightly in the third quarter to $465 billion.
RESOURCES:
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