December 03, 2021 Why Did Credit Card Balances Decline so Much during the COVID-19 Pandemic Robert M. Adams, Vitaly M. Bord, and Bradley Katcher 1. Introduction Consumer credit card balances in the United States experienced unprecedented declines during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the G.19 Consumer Credit statistical release, revolving consumer credit fell more than $120 billion (11 percent) in 2020, the largest decline in both nominal and percentage terms in the history of the series.