Credit cards are central to the financial lives of most American consumers. Credit cards represent a key medium for U.S. consumer spending. In the first six months of 2015 alone, there were some 14.5 billion U.S. general purpose credit card transactions accounting for more than $1.4 trillion in purchase volume. Credit cards are also a major driver of consumer indebtedness. As of the end of the second quarter of 2015, there were some $703 billion in credit card loans outstanding, behind only housing debt, automobile debt, and education debt as a component of overall household liability. The credit card marketplace is among the largest, most diverse, and most complex market of any consumer financial product. How and why consumers acquire and use credit cards, and the myriad of benefits and risks they pose o consumers, is a central market monitoring focus for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”).

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