If you default on all your credit cards, the financial fallout can be severe and long-lasting. Andrii Yalanskyi/Getty Images

For millions of Americans, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find the balance between borrowing money and repaying what's owed. That isn't stopping borrowers from racking up more credit card debt, though. With sticky inflation stretching household budgets , many cardholders have found themselves relying on this type of high-rate, short-term borrowing to cover their basic needs. And, the numbers paint a sobering picture. Credit card balances topped $1.23 trillion in the third quarter of 2025, an all-time high, according to the latest data.

At the same time, delinquencies have steadily increased, due in large part to average credit card APRs remaini

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