Over Half Of Balance Carriers Have Had Year-Long Credit Card Debt

MoneyTips

Do you carry a balance on your credit card? Does the balance haunt you each month, running up interest charges, despite your best efforts to pay it off?

You're not alone. According to a new survey by Clever, a real estate data company, almost half (47%) of credit card users report carrying balances, and 56% of those cardholders have had debt for at least a year. Almost three-quarters (72%) of balance-carrying consumers had more than $1,000 in outstanding credit card debt.

Most balance holders aren't optimistic about paying off their debt anytime soon. Clever found that only 30% of Americans with credit card debt expect to completely pay it off this year. One in five Americans think it will take more than three years to pay off their credit card debt, 7% say it will take over five years to be free of credit card debt, and 8% have no idea when they'll pay off their debt – if ever.