A report on the trends in the credit card lending industry during the Q4 2007 posts a, reaching USD 1,694 as compared with the previous quarter. Alaska registers the largest state average at USD 2,342. Tennessee comes second, with USD 2,046, followed by Alabama at USD 1,996. Iowa reports the lowest average credit card debt (at USD 1,272).

Florida, Nevada and California indicate the sharpest increases in average credit card debt over the previous quarter, by 6.84 percent, 5.98 percent and 5.95 percent respectively. In Alaska a decline by 2.01 percent in the average credit card debt occurred, while Nebraska and District of Columbia's debt went up by 0.32 percent and 1.68 percent.

Credit card loan delinquency (the percentage of bankcard users 90 or more days past due) reached a national average of 1.36 percent in Q4, an increase by 32.04 percent as compared with the previous period. Nevada reported the highest level of delinquency at 1.95 percent, followed by Mississippi at 1.89 percent. The lowest level of bankcard user delinquency rates were registered in Utah (0.87 percent), North Dakota (0.92 percent) and Montana (0.92 percent). Quarter-to-quarter delinquency reached the highest level in the District of Columbia, by 48.9 percent, while Alaska's delinquency rate grew the least, by 8.1 percent, from the previous period.

Forecasts predict that the national 90-day bankcard user delinquency rate will keep on rising in 2008 from 1.36 percent in Q4 2007 to 1.9 percent by the end of the year. The main causes are the anticipated deterioration in economic conditions and the mortgage crises. Nevada is expected to be the state that will experience the highest average delinquency rate in 2008, as opposed to Utah, which is forecasted to reach the lowest level of delinquency among bankcard users.

Data was provided by credit and information management company TransUnion.