On the heels of another rate hike last week by the Federal Reserve, credit card annual percentage rates are already near 20%, on average, and set to climb even higher. At the same time, more consumers are leaning on credit to afford increasingly expensive necessities, like food and rent. A recent quarterly report by TransUnion showed that total credit card debt was propelled to a record $930.6 billion at the end of 2022, an 18.5% spike from a year earlier. The average balance rose to $5,805 over that same period, TransUnion found. Overall, an additional 202 million new credit accounts were opened in the fourth quarter, led by originations among Generation Z, or adults ages 18 to 25, and the tally of total credit cards hit a record 518.4 million.
