Key stat: US credit card payments added 16.1 billion more transactions in 2024 than in 2021, outpacing debit's 13.9 billion and marking the first three-year period since 2003 in which credit grew faster, according to a July report from the Federal Reserve Board.

Beyond the chart:

• All that swiping comes with a bill. The share of credit card balances 90 or more days delinquent climbed to 12.9% from 12.2% a year earlier, a rate not seen since the Great Recession, while total credit card debt hit $1.263 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
• Meanwhile, the growth is concentrating at the top. The wealthiest 10% of US consumers now drive as much discretionary spending as the bottom 70% of households combined, according to the Bank of America Institute.

Use this chart: Drop this in your payments strategy deck. Show it to leadership when arguing for credit-linked rewards or cobrand investment. Use it in planning meetings to reset assumptions about debit's dominance, and pair it with delinquency data before you read the shift as pure consumer strength.

Related EMARKETER reports:

• Private Label Credit Card Trends 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)
• Hotel and Airline Co-Brand Credit Card Trends 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)