Gen Z Is Deep In Credit Card Debt

TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets open for trading Friday, May 17.

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Full Video Transcript Below:

CONWAY GITTENS: I’m Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.

Stocks are coming off a historic session with the Dow crossing 40,000 for the very first time. This optimism comes amid hopes that interest rates have peaked. Markets are pricing in a nearly 50 percent chance the central bank slashes interest rates in September. Traders are also digesting a better than expected earnings season with nearly 80 percent of companies in the S&P 500 beating Wall Street estimates.

In other news - Gen Z-ers have a credit card problem. According to a new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, roughly 15% of Gen Z credit card borrowers have maxed out their cards. For comparison, only 4.8% of Baby Boomers and 9.6% of Gen X-ers have maxed out their credit cards.

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The New York Fed says part of the problem is that Gen Z borrowers have a much lower credit limit. The median limit for that generation comes in at $4,500 - primarily because they haven’t had enough time to build credit histories and credit scores that would allow for a higher limit. The media limit for millennials tops $16,000 and nearly $22,00 for Gen X.

But credit card issues aren’t just a Gen Z problem. The New York Fed says all credit card delinquencies are increasing at a staggering pace, with missed payments increasing by more than 50% in 2023. And severe credit card delinquencies, those which are 90 days or more overdue, are up roughly 11% thus far in 2024.

That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m Conway Gittens with TheStreet.

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