Credit Card Delinquency Rate Was 2.9% in Q2 2026: Charge-Offs at 3.8%
Credit card delinquency at U.S. commercial banks was 2.9% in Q2 2026, the same as in Q1 2026, according to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. That's the lowest since Q2 2023. Charge-offs ran at an annualized 3.8%, the same as in Q1 2026. Banks outside the 100 largest reported 6.5% in Q2 2026. These rates describe loan balances, not cardholders.
What Is the Credit Card Delinquency Rate in 2026?
The credit card delinquency rate at U.S. commercial banks was 2.9% in Q2 2026, the same as in Q1 2026, according to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (series DRCCLACBS, retrieved via FRED). That's down from 3% a year earlier. It's the share of card balances at least 30 days past due or in nonaccrual, not the share of cardholders who are behind.
The charge-off rate is a separate measurement: 3.8% in Q2 2026, annualized, down from 4.2% a year earlier. That's the lowest since Q3 2023. Banks outside the top 100 reported a 6.5% delinquency rate, little changed from 6.4% in Q1 2026. The matched outside-top-100 minus top-100 spread was 3.8 percentage points in Q2 2026, little changed from 3.6 percentage points in Q1 2026. None of these bank-reported balance measures identifies characteristics of individual customers. The American Distress Index tracks the all-commercial-bank delinquency and charge-off series as direct inputs, currently reading 47.0 (Typical). The composite itself sits higher than 44% of all published quarters since 2005.
Key Credit Card Default Statistics at a Glance
Credit card delinquency is one of the index's Delinquency-domain inputs alongside mortgage delinquency (the domain carries 20.0% of the composite weight). The bank series measures the share of credit-card loan balances that are delinquent or in nonaccrual status; it doesn't establish a household payment sequence or predict when another debt category will become delinquent.
How Does Credit Card Delinquency Compare With Its History?
Comparisons here start in 2010. That year, new accounting rules (FAS 166 and 167) brought securitized card loans back onto bank books, so earlier readings aren't like-for-like. Measured from there, the all-commercial-bank rate of 2.9% is the 22nd-highest of the 66 quarters since 2010, the lowest since Q2 2023. That aggregate includes every commercial-bank size group and isn't the top-100-bank rate. A separate matched comparison subtracts the top-100 series (DRCCLT100S) from the outside-top-100 series (DRCCLOBS). That spread was 3.8 percentage points in Q2 2026. The source data establish the difference between those bank populations, not why it exists.
Credit Card Delinquency Rate, All Commercial Banks (%)
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System data retrieved via FRED, DRCCLACBS. Quarterly, 1991–present; readings before 2010 are on a different accounting basis.
Full data: Credit Card Delinquency indicator page
What Has Credit Card Delinquency Done Since 2019?
The chart below starts in 2019. In Q4 2019, before the pandemic, the rate was 2.6%. Readings for 2020 and 2021 carry a caveat: banking agencies said card loans with COVID-19 payment deferrals weren't expected to be reported past due because of the deferral, and the effect on this rate isn't published. In Q2 2026 the rate was 2.9%, down from 3% a year earlier. The separate charge-off series read 3.8%. These observations describe the reported path of each series; they don't by themselves explain the changes.
Credit Card Delinquency, 2019–Present (%)
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System data retrieved via FRED, DRCCLACBS. Quarterly.
How Do Delinquency and Charge-Offs Differ?
The Federal Reserve's delinquency rate measures the share of credit-card loan balances that are 30 or more days past due or in nonaccrual status. The charge-off rate measures net charge-offs as a share of average loan balances and is annualized. They are separate series with different numerators; neither should be subtracted from the other or treated as proof of a mechanism linking them.
Read the measures separately
A move in delinquency beside a different move in charge-offs is an observation about two reported balance measures, not evidence of a particular household payment ordering or a forecast for auto and mortgage delinquency. Those claims require separate data.
How Do Consumer Debt Indicators Compare?
Four measurements provide different views of consumer credit. The all-commercial-bank and outside-top-100 credit-card series are bank-reported balance measures. Charge-offs use a different numerator, while the New York Fed auto-loan series covers balances that are 90 or more days delinquent. The table keeps each population, threshold, period, and source separate.
| Indicator | Current | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit card delinquency (all banks) | 2.9% | Q2 2026 | FRED DRCCLACBS |
| Credit card delinquency (banks outside top 100) | 6.5% | Q2 2026 | FRED DRCCLOBS |
| Credit card charge-off rate | 3.8% | Q2 2026 | FRED CORCCACBS |
| Auto loan serious delinquency (90+ days) | 5.5% | Q2 2026 | NY Fed / Equifax |
Federal Reserve Board data are weighted by loan balance and cover insured U.S.-chartered commercial banks. The New York Fed auto delinquency rate is based on the Equifax Consumer Credit Panel (5% nationally representative sample).
See also: Auto Loan Delinquency Statistics and Consumer Debt Statistics.
Credit Card Delinquency — Recent Quarterly Data
| Quarter | Delinquency Rate |
|---|---|
| Q3 2024 | 3.20% |
| Q4 2024 | 3.08% |
| Q1 2025 | 3.05% |
| Q2 2025 | 3.04% |
| Q3 2025 | 2.99% |
| Q4 2025 | 2.95% |
| Q1 2026 | 2.91% |
| Q2 2026 | 2.85% |
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Delinquency Rate on Credit Card Loans, All Commercial Banks (DRCCLACBS), seasonally adjusted. The Board re-estimates past quarters at most releases, so older figures can differ from earlier copies. The Board says data come out about sixty days after the quarter ends.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current credit card delinquency rate?
The credit card delinquency rate at U.S. commercial banks was 2.9% in Q2 2026, the same as in Q1 2026, according to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (series DRCCLACBS, retrieved via FRED). That's the lowest since Q2 2023.
Does a change in credit card delinquency show whether households are more stressed?
Not by itself. The all-commercial-bank delinquency series reports balances 30 or more days past due or in nonaccrual status; it doesn't report household income, expenses, or reasons for a change. The latest reading can describe the direction of that series, but it can't by itself establish whether households broadly became more or less financially stressed.
What's the difference between delinquency and charge-offs?
In these Federal Reserve series, delinquency measures credit-card loan balances that are 30 or more days past due or in nonaccrual status. The charge-off rate measures annualized net charge-offs as a percentage of average loan balances. The two measures should be read with their own definitions and periods; neither establishes a fixed timing relationship on its own.
How does delinquency outside the top 100 compare with the top 100?
The direct matched-quarter comparison is DRCCLOBS minus DRCCLT100S. Its signed value was 3.8 percentage points in Q2 2026. A positive value means the rate outside the 100 largest banks was higher; a negative value means the rate at banks ranked 1st through 100th was higher. The series don't identify characteristics of individual customers or explain the difference.
Where does credit card delinquency data come from?
The primary source is the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, which reports quarterly delinquency and charge-off rates for credit card loans at commercial banks from the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Reports). The series is DRCCLACBS, retrieved via FRED. The New York Fed's Household Debt and Credit Report publishes a different measure from Equifax credit reports; its card figures use other thresholds and aren't like-for-like with the bank series.
Data Sources and Methodology
FRED DRCCLACBS (All Commercial Banks)
Delinquency rate on credit card loans at insured U.S.-chartered commercial banks, from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Measures balances 30 or more days past due plus balances in nonaccrual status, as a percentage of card loans outstanding, seasonally adjusted. Reported quarterly from Call Report filings.
FRED CORCCACBS (Charge-Off Rate)
Credit card charge-off rate at commercial banks. Measures annualized net charge-offs as a percentage of average outstanding card balances, seasonally adjusted.
FRED DRCCLOBS and DRCCLT100S (Bank-Size Comparison)
Seasonally adjusted, end-of-quarter credit-card delinquency rates for commercial banks outside the 100 largest by assets and banks ranked 1st through 100th. The published spread subtracts the latter from the former, both taken from the same Federal Reserve Board release, and is expressed in percentage points.