Delinquencies Rise for Borrowers Earning at Least $150K Per Year, Threatening Card Profits

People in the U.S. with high incomes are increasingly missing payment due dates on their car loans and credit cards, according to a recent Bloomberg report. The shift in upper-income payment behavior could spell trouble for credit card issuers that rely on wealthier individuals to consistently meet payment due dates.

The jump in missed payments by upper-income borrowers isn’t a small one either. Bloomberg reports that delinquencies on car loan and credit card payments from people making at least $150,000 a year have increased nearly 20% within the past two years.

From a macroeconomic view, upticks in missed payment due dates can be a sign of broader impending financial turmoil.

A May 2025 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reveals that “delinquency rates, including credit card delinquency rates, may anticipate recessions and provide insight into future U.S. economic conditions.”

The probability of a recession in the U.S. in 2025 is 40%, according to J.P. Morgan.

Of course, a recession can bring a whole other slate of problems that frustrate credit card issuers. In addition to bringing even higher rates of delinquencies and defaults, recessions can cause people to keep their wallets, and their credit cards, firmly tucked away in their pockets.

And that can cause issuers to miss out on interchange and interest income.

While a recession isn’t terribly likely in the near term — J.P. Morgan recently placed the odds of the U.S. slipping into a recession in 2025 at 40% — delinquencies can still significantly dent an issuer’s revenue figures.

One reason credit card issuers should pay attention to growing delinquency rates from upper-income consumers is that rising delinquencies can increase issuer expenses. 

For example, collection costs can soar if issuers must devote more resources to recovering monies from customers who have not made payments on their card accounts for an extended time.

But issuers may be more concerned about losing revenue than any cost increases resulting from higher-income people missing payment due dates.

A recent study emphasizes the crucial role wealthy borrowers play in enhancing revenues for issuers. In the U.S., the top 10% of earners account for almost half of the spending in the country.

If a credit card issuer loses its wealthier customers, it can lose a significant portion of the total card spend in its portfolio that those customers provided.

Issuers could also see fee income from high-income customers erode if they eventually have to charge off an increasing number of higher-income accounts. 

Rewards offerings may also be at risk if an issuer uses the revenue it receives from high-income customers to fund their premium rewards programs. 

Issuers should plan now for how they will manage their credit card programs should delinquencies among upper-income borrowers continue to grow. If they wait too long, they risk losing customers to competitors that have already developed strategies for growth in challenging market conditions.