[saywhanow]

Credit card debt and credit card balance aren’t the same thing, in practice.

If I had long standing debt on a credit card, I’d be paying an extremely high interest rate on that debt even with a >800 credit score.

If I have a balance that’s completely paid every month, I pay no interest on that “debt”. And while that money is floating, it’s in a 4.5% high yield savings account (Sallie Mae).

In the former situation, I am losing money. In the later, I’m making money. (Compared to paying with cash / debit).

[DataDive]

Excellent point made here; credit card balance can be a money maker, actually! The actual opposite of debt.

[seadan83]

In what percentage of total cases and to what fraction of the total balance? Please bring citations. This strikes me as a very glib, noisy, and unsupported claim.

[seadan83]

> Credit card debt and credit card balance aren’t the same thing, in practice.

In practice, but pedanticatically speaking they are the same. If I asked, how much credit card debt do you have, you shouldn't say zero just because you likely will pay off the balance before the grace period expires.

EG:What is the balance on your mortgage? How much mortgage debt do you have? (The latter implies across all mortgages. That is the extent to which there is a distinction)

Pedantics and straw-manning aside, the main point, supported by citations - is that most americans are not paying their credit cards off, in full, every month.