US credit card debt climbs to $1.26tn, nearing last year’s record high

The report shows that credit card debt rose by $21bn, or 1.7%, in the second quarter compared with earlier this year. Photograph: aquaArts studio/Getty Images

Credit card debt in the United States is growing close to a record high, having crept up from $54bn to $1.26tn between April and June compared with the same period last year, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

That figure is just shy of last year’s record high of $1.28tn.