Delinquency rate declines on consumers’ plastic debt

WASHINGTON — With the economy clearly in recovery mode, the percentage of credit card payments that were past due in the first quarter of this year fell sharply, an improvement after two previous quarters of record-high delinquency rates.

The seasonally adjusted percentage of credit card accounts that were 30 or more days past due dropped to 4.21 percent in the January-to-March quarter, the American Bankers Association reported in a quarterly survey released Tuesday.

The decline came after the delinquency rate shot up to an all-time quarterly high of 4.43 percent in the final three months of 2003. That had surpassed the previous record high of 4.09 percent in the third quarter of last year.

The association’s survey showed that the delinquency rate on a composite of other types of consumer loans, including auto loans and home equity loans, dipped to 1.86 percent in the first quarter, down from 1.89 percent in the previous quarter.