Uncertain about tomorrow, Americans use credit cards less often.

NEW YORK, September 11 (Itar-Tass) -- Uncertainty about the future is
a reason for the Americans to use credit cards less often. Experts do not
exclude that this trend will continue after the U.S. economy is completely
out of the crisis.
According to the Federal Reserve, in July, the use of credit cards
fell by 6.3 percent in annual terms. Last time an increase in the use of
credit cards was noted in August 2008.
Whereas in 2007 87 percent of all American consumers used credit
cards, in 2009 the figure dropped to 56 percent, says the research
organization Javelin Strategy & Research. By the end of this year, this
parameter may drop to 45 percent. Americans' debts on credit cards is now
down to the lowest level for eight years and makes up according to the
Federal Reserve, about 828 billion dollars in the form of revolving credit.
Experts attribute this trend to a number of reasons, mostly to
economic uncertainty, which causes people to display extreme caution
because of fears that the country can be swept by a second wave of
recession. The availability of credit has dwindled. Most college students
are unable to get a credit card, if they have no sureties. The users of
credit cards sometimes lack the understanding of the system of fines and
charges for their use. The younger generation increasingly prefers to pay
for purchases in real time, with cash, cheques or debit cards.
Incidentally, in 2009 the volume of payments with debit cards for the
first time exceeded payments with credit cards. The American Bankers
Association believes that it is too early to speculate whether this trend
will continue after the U.S. economy is out of the recession.
Clearly, consumers are reacting to the uncertain economic situation,
so it is not clear how they will behave in the future when they will have
to choose between credit cards and debit cards, said the association's
vice president Kenneth Clayton.

-0-str