Californians Say ‘Charge It’ More Often

Californians charge more on their credit cards and carry higher debts than the rest of the nation, but they’re also less satisfied with using plastic, a survey released Tuesday shows.

Statewide, consumers charge an average of $655 a month, or about 20% more than the national average of $547 a month, according to the 1999 Comprehensive Credit Cardholder Study by Agoura Hills-based J.D. Power & Associates. San Francisco is home to the state’s biggest chargers, with average monthly charges of $1,023, followed by the Los Angeles-Long Beach area at $739 a month, according to the survey.

Californians also carry bigger debts, averaging $2,779 per household versus $2,372 for the nation, the study found.

Higher incomes in California probably are responsible for the state’s above-average credit card usage, according to Andrew March, director of financial services at J.D. Power.

“When you have more wealth, you have more spending and credit card usage,” said March, noting that the average annual household income of survey respondents in California was $54,000, compared with $48,000 nationwide.

Demographics and lifestyle also may play a role, according to Bruce Brittain, president of Brittain Associates, an Atlanta-based consulting firm. Brittain noted that California tends to have a younger population and many families, which often means higher debts.

“There also may be more people that travel or use their cards to take advantage of bonus programs,” Brittain said.

Whatever the reasons, one of the side effects of increased credit card use appears to be a decline in satisfaction, March said. In short, the more debt consumers have, the less happy they seem to be, he said.

“People have a love-hate relationship with the credit card balance,” March said.

In California, about 54% of credit cardholders said they were “very” or “extremely” satisfied with their credit cards, down dramatically from 63% a year ago. Nationwide, 56% of cardholders said they were “very” or “extremely” satisfied.

“We’re seeing less satisfaction across the board,” March said.

The top concerns expressed by cardholders were good customer service and avoiding billing problems. By contrast, most issuers have been focusing on offering low interest rates or reward programs.

The study--conducted in the spring--surveyed more than 10,000 credit cardholders nationwide.

Among other key findings:

* Issuers are extending more credit to borrowers, hiking credit limits nationwide by 20% over the last year to an average of $18,810 per household. Los Angeles led the nation with an average household credit limit of $23,231.

* Average debt loads in the Los Angeles-Long Beach metropolitan area sank 25% to $2,084, possibly because cardholders are shifting their debts to home-equity loans.

* Average monthly charges in California rose slightly by about 4%, but monthly activity declined in the Los Angeles-Long Beach and Riverside-San Bernardino areas.

The J.D. Power survey also ranked the overall satisfaction ratings of specific card issuers.

Citibank’s AAdvantage card, a joint venture with American Airlines, received the highest rating for reward cards. MBNA America topped the list of platinum card issuers. And American Express’ Optima card was the most popular among gold and classic credit cards.

*

Times staff writer Edmund Sanders can be reached at [email protected].

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Giving California Credit

A recent survey of credit users shows that Californians charge more and carry higher debt than the national average, but are also less satisfied with their credit card issuers.

*--*

Average Average Extremely monthly Average credit or very Metro area charges debt limit satisfied* Los Angeles-Long Beach $739 $2,084 23,231 57% Oakland 578 3,352 21,825 57 Riverside-San Bernardino 589 3,949 20,137 50 San Diego 588 2,224 21,224 53 San Francisco 1,023 2,827 20,958 66 California average 655 2,779 20,703 54 U.S. average 547 2,372 18,810 56*

*--*

* Based on usage of Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover credit cards. Figures for Orange County were unavailable.

Source: J.D. Power & Associates