Credit Cardholder Confidence Plunged in June to Lowest Level in Four Years

According to LendingTree’s Credit Card Confidence Index, a monthly look at the mindset and payment habits of credit card holders in the United States, confidence sharply declined last month to its lowest levels since the index began in 2018. Short-term confidence, or the percentage of credit card holders who say they’re confident they can pay their monthly statement balances in full by months’ end, dropped from 63 percent in May to 53 percent in June.

Long-term confidence, or the percentage of consumers who expect to pay their monthly balances in full at least five times in the next six months, dropped to 39 percent.

“These numbers clearly paint a gloomy picture of cardholders’ current beliefs,” reads an analysis of the data written by Matt Schultz, LendingTree’s Chief Credit Analyst and a nationally recognized expert on credit cards, buy now pay later loans, personal loans, credit scoring and reporting, and other aspects of personal finance. “However, it’s worth noting that previous large monthly declines have always been followed by a rebound the next month.”

“Short-term confidence rose by 5 points in December 2020 after falling by 10 points in November,” the report notes. “Long-term confidence went up by 5 points in December 2021 after plunging by 8 in November that year. This bodes well for July’s Confidence Index—however, a bounce-back month is anything but guaranteed.”

While no specific demographic was responsible for the decrease, it was significant across gender, age, and political identification.