Nationwide, consumers slipped a bit in credit card payments andmoved their card debt burden a little higher in the third quarter,according to TransUnion, one of the nation's three major credit reportingbureaus.

The ratio of borrowers 90 or more days past due on their creditcard bills increased slightly to 0.75% in third quarter from 0.71%in the third quarter of 2011, the company said. This rate had been0.63% in the second quarter of this year, a seasonal low.

Average credit card debt per borrower also increased on a yearlybasis by 4.91%, rising to $4,996 in third quarter of this year from$4,762 in the third quarter of 2011. On a quarterly basis, averagecredit card debt was up 0.50% relative to the second quarter, thecompany added.

“Credit card delinquencies are following a pattern similar to what weobserved in 2011, with declines in the first two quarters of theyear followed by an increase in the third,” said Ezra Becker, vicepresident of research and consulting in TransUnion's financialservices business unit. “That seasonal consistency is encouraging.Credit card debt trends in 2012 also are mirroring 2011, with adecrease in the first quarter followed by two increases over thenext six months. With both delinquencies and debt levels remainingquite low relative to historical norms, we are confident in thecontinued stability of credit card usage patterns in the shortterm.”

TransUnion noted as well that more cards are being issued now,with new credit card originations moving higher, to 3.14% in thisyear's second quarter relative to the same period last year. Andthe bureau reported that a significant portion of those went tonon-prime borrowers.

Fully 29.55% of new cards issued in the second quarter of thisyear went to borrowers with credit scores of less than 700, thecompany said, slightly higher than one year ago and much higherthan the 23.86% observed in second quarter of 2010.

“Non-prime borrowers continue to gain more access to credit. Inconjunction with the growth in the overall number of cardoriginations in the last few years, it means that the credit cardpie is bigger, and non-prime consumers are getting a bigger sliceof that pie,” said Becker. “It is possible that the slight increasein delinquencies year over year can be attributed in part to theincreased share among non-prime borrowers of new accounts, but evenso these delinquency numbers are not a cause for concern. We'vefound that consumers continue to value their credit cards more thanever, and will likely do so at least until unemployment furtherabates.”