{"id":6629,"date":"2026-06-10T15:51:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/?p=6629"},"modified":"2026-06-10T15:51:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:51:34","slug":"credit-one-bank-warns-of-deep-anxiety-in-u-s-cardholders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/?p=6629","title":{"rendered":"Credit One Bank warns of deep anxiety in U.S. cardholders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p>For many people, checking a credit card statement comes with a familiar tension before the monthly charges are revealed. That feeling is becoming more common and is now shared by many Americans, according to a new survey of 1,000 U.S. credit card users.<\/p>\n<p>Credit One Bank surveyed consumers who each hold at least one personal card, and the results show a sharp gap between behavior and emotional well-being.<\/p>\n<p>More than three-quarters of respondents reported that carrying a credit card balance from month to month creates anxiety for them, yet millions do it anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Credit One Bank survey reveals rising emotional strain among cardholders<\/h2>\n<p>Carrying a credit card balance from month to month creates anxiety for 77% of U.S. consumers, a new Credit One Bank survey found. <\/p>\n<p>The figure captures a cardholder population stuck between financial necessity and emotional distress, with no clear exit visible for millions of people.<\/p>\n<p>The anxiety data becomes more troubling when you compare it with balance-carrying rates across generations in the same survey of U.S. consumers.<\/p>\n<p>Among millennials, 60% reported carrying a balance at least once during the past 12 months, the highest rate among the four generations surveyed.<\/p>\n<p>Gen X followed at 59%, Gen Z came in at 52%, and boomers reported the lowest balance-carrying rate at 37%, according to the survey.<\/p>\n<h2>Millennials shoulder the heaviest credit card burden during peak spending years<\/h2>\n<p>Millennials now range from their late 20s to mid-40s, a stage of life often marked by mortgages, child care costs, and rising everyday expenses.<\/p>\n<p>Faced with these overlapping financial pressures, many millennials rely on credit cards to bridge the gap between their income and everyday expenses.<\/p>\n<p>Bankrate&#8217;s 2026 Credit Card Debt Report found that 47% of U.S. credit cardholders have credit card debt, while 52% of those borrowers do not have a plan to pay it off.<\/p>\n<p>The research supports the Credit One Bank findings, providing additional detail on how deeply card debt affects daily decision-making across income levels.<\/p>\n<p><strong>More Personal Finance:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Fidelity has a warning for anyone who left a 401(k) at an old job<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Living trusts: what they do and who needs one<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Fidelity sounds alarm on 401(k)s, IRAs<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Close to two in three debtors reported delaying financial decisions because of their balances, including emergency savings and investments, according to Bankrate&#8217;s 2025 Dealing With Debt Survey.<\/p>\n<p>Howard Dvorkin, a Certified Public Accountant and Chairman of Debt.com, offered a pointed assessment of consumers who carry five-figure card balances in a separate analysis.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201c<\/em>We aren\u2019t just looking at a budgeting issue; we\u2019re looking at a financial emergency<em>,\u201d<\/em> said Howard Dvorkin, CPA, chairman of Debt.com, in a 2026 survey release.<\/p>\n<p>The share of Americans carrying card balances above $10,000 rose from 23% in 2025 to 29% in 2026, the survey found.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thestreet.com\/.image\/NDA6MDAwMDAwMDAzMDcyNDI1\/photo-3072425.jpg?profile=rss\" height=\"675\" width=\"1200\"><figcaption>Millennials face mounting credit card debt as rising living costs push more borrowers into five-figure balances and financial strain.<\/p>\n<p>DjelicS&amp;sol;Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Credit card spending climbs for nearly half of Americans in two years<\/h2>\n<p>Almost half of U.S. consumers (49%) told Credit One Bank that their credit card usage has increased over the past two years. The increase varies significantly by gender: 56% of men reported higher usage, compared to just 42% of women in the same survey period.<\/p>\n<p>Rising everyday costs explain much of the trend, as credit cards fill the growing gap between what households earn and what daily life demands.<\/p>\n<p>While some discretionary spending may be delayed, essential expenses like gas, groceries, and utilities can&#8217;t be avoided,&#8221; Jennifer Oliver, President and CEO of Rize Credit Union, told CBS News. &#8220;When inflation outpaces income growth, many people turn to credit cards to cover the gap, resulting in balances creeping up month after month.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Total U.S. credit card debt reached $1.252 trillion in the first quarter of 2026, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That total remains 5.9% above the same quarter one year earlier, even after a seasonal post-holiday decline in consumer spending on credit cards.<\/p>\n<h2>Income shapes why cardholders use credit cards<\/h2>\n<p>Among consumers earning $50,000 or less, 37% told Credit One Bank that building credit history or score is the top reason they carry a card.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, 38% of consumers earning $150,000 or more said rewards and cash back are the biggest reasons they use credit cards.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Rewards cards can be a great tool for consumers to optimize their spending, but it can be easy to get carried away. This is especially important for Gen Z who are earlier in their financial journey and likely still working to establish and build credit<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The difference shows how income affects people&#8217;s use of credit cards. Lower-income consumers focus on building credit, while higher-income consumers are more interested in rewards and extra value.<\/p>\n<p>Cash back dominates reward preferences across all demographics, with 68% of respondents saying it is very appealing for their main credit card.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>America\u2019s credit card reality<\/h2>\n<p>While many consumers rely on credit to manage everyday expenses and build financial standing, a large share also reports growing anxiety tied to monthly balances and debt.<\/p>\n<p>The Bankrate data highlights a broader divide in how Americans interact with credit, shaped by income, generation, and financial priorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>From younger users turning to credit for access and guidance to higher earners leveraging rewards, the role of credit cards continues to evolve alongside rising costs and persistent inflation pressures.<\/p>\n<p>However, rising debt levels and limited repayment plans suggest that, for many households, credit is no longer just a financial tool but a source of ongoing pressure that shows little sign of easing.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>Related: Citi blindsides cardholders by killing credit card<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>#Credit #Bank #warns #deep #anxiety #U.S #cardholders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For many people, checking a credit card statement comes with a familiar tension before the monthly charges are revealed. That feeling is becoming more common and is now shared by&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[246],"tags":[5629,200,9050,293,2219,599,583],"class_list":["post-6629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-popular","tag-anxiety","tag-bank","tag-cardholders","tag-credit","tag-deep","tag-u-s","tag-warns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}