Atlantans carry most credit-card debt

[marmar]

from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:




The average Atlanta-area consumer has 3.06 open credit card accounts, compared to 4.16 in 2007, according to recent report released by the credit score bureau, Experian.

That doesn’t necessarily mean locals are in the clear, because while the number of cards has gone down, the utilization of cards is higher than it was three years ago, said Michele Raneri, senior director of analytics for Experian.

“Utilization on cards is 33 percent compared to 31 percent in 2007,” she said. “The number of cards have dropped, but that has a tendency to make the utilization go up a little bit. If you close one card, you might use another one a little bit more.”

And the more you use, the higher the balances in many cases.

Experian compared credit card trends, including home equity lines of credit, across 20 metropolitan areas:

* Atlanta leads all major cities with an average balance of $6,753 on revolving accounts.
* Atlanta’s average balance in 2007 was $7,114.
* Credit scores in Georgia have not caught up to the national average. The average Georgian’s VantageScore, used by Experian, is 723 or a “C” score. The average TransUnion Transrisk score of 663 is five points lower than the national average.

The lower scores indicate that while Georgians may be using fewer cards, they are using cards frequently. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-bargain-hunter/2010/08/16/atlantans-carrying-fewer-credit-cards-but-have-the-highest-average-balance-in-the-country/

[another saigon]

1. I have friends in Atlanta

who are going through bankruptcy proceedings now. :(

[lunatica]

2. My job is in Administration in the Department of Statistics in UC Berkeley

The Commencement speaker a couple of years ago told the graduating class that Statisticians will always find employment because everything is about numbers, percentages and trends. Every time we see numbers like these it means statistics is being used and it's being used by professional Statisticians.

I've often thought of those words. I think the Commencement Speaker was right. We are deluged with numbers, averages, polls, figures and statistical analysis on a daily basis. We take it for granted, without even thinking of who and how these numbers are picked or of how they get gathered.