00:001,497. That's the number of valid credit cards that belong to one person.
00:07He holds the record for the most active credit cards in the United States.
00:11All of them are real and usable.
00:13He got into this wild journey in the 1960s because of a bet with a friend,
00:18and eventually became Mr. Plastic Fantastic.
00:23His record is a good warning sign for holders of over 631 million active credit cards
00:29floating around the U.S. as of 2025.
00:32That's 2.4 cards per adult.
00:35The average card balance is $6,523.
00:39And the national credit card debt, get ready for it, is $1.23 trillion.
00:48Millions of Americans walking around with 3, 4, even 5 credit cards isn't some quirky habit.
00:54It's standard.
00:56It's even expected.
00:57And that's not because people love plastic,
00:59but because the financial system basically trained everyone to think that living on credit equals playing smart.
01:06You get better mortgage rates if your credit score is high.
01:09You get cash back on groceries.
01:11You get travel upgrades.
01:12You get 0% intro offers, sign-up bonuses, reward multipliers, points on points on points.
01:19And that story starts much earlier than you might think.
01:23Back in the 18th century, even before the country became a country, there was barely any actual cash lying around.
01:30People bought things on account, borrowing until the next harvest or the next shipment.
01:35Then, the 19th century showed up and America moved from farms to factories.
01:40Now, people suddenly had something brand new.
01:44Predictable paychecks.
01:46And businesses jumped on that immediately.
01:48Installment credit was born.
01:50A tiny down payment upfront, then weekly or monthly payments after that.
01:55For the first time, expensive stuff became accessible to ordinary people.
02:00Not because they had money now, but because they'd have money later.
02:05Big city department stores were busy reinventing another kind of borrowing.
02:11The charge account.
02:13If you were well off enough, the store gave you a personal line of credit.
02:17And you just paid the balance every month with zero interest.
02:20Stores didn't just let you borrow.
02:22They turned it into a status symbol.
02:25They introduced charge tokens and later, these metal charge plates.
02:30Basically, old school credit cards.
02:32They had your account info stamped right into them.
02:36In the 20th century, after the Great Depression flattened the economy,
02:40the authorities realized that without easy access to credit,
02:43the American machine would stall again.
02:46That's when buy now, pay later became a national philosophy.
02:50In the 1950s, Diners Club launched the first Universal Card.
02:55Then came Bank AmeriCard, which eventually turned into Visa.
02:59And these things spread fast.
03:02They weren't just convenient.
03:03They felt cool, modern, and sophisticated.
03:07Suddenly, you could walk into a restaurant, pay with a little rectangle,
03:10and walk out looking like you owned half the city.
03:13You know that feeling, right?
03:15Anyway, banks mailed out millions of credit cards with barely any idea who was receiving them.
03:21Imagine you open your mailbox and find a card just sitting there.
03:25I have to admit, I wouldn't turn down that free credit.
03:29By the 1970s, Visa and MasterCard built nationwide networks.
03:34By the 1980s, and this part still blows my mind,
03:38banks moved operations to states with no interest rate caps.
03:42Rewards programs came next.
03:44Points, miles, cashback.
03:47Like the chocolate sprinkles on the financial sundae.
03:50And after decades of this, credit cards didn't just become a tool.
03:55They became a lifestyle strategy.
03:58Today, most of us don't even view credit cards as debt.
04:02It's more of a leverage, a way to live smoothly.
04:05On average, a boomer has four to five credit cards today.
04:09Millennials, around three and a half.
04:12Gen Z is already at 2.2 and climbing,
04:15even though half of them still look like they're 15 years old.
04:18Let's get personal.
04:21I remember opening my first card because of the sign-up bonus.
04:24The free airfare.
04:26I didn't think about APR or utilization or minimum payments.
04:30I thought about seeing the ocean for the first time.
04:33But the moment that first interest charge showed up, something clicked.
04:37This isn't free money.
04:39This is a system.
04:41And I just stepped into it.
04:43Just like millions do every year.
04:45It made me think.
04:46Just because everyone else treats three or four cards as normal
04:49doesn't mean you're safe without rules.
04:52Culture normalized it.
04:54But that doesn't wipe out the risk.
04:56I know people who have one card for everyday essentials,
04:59another for emergency or travels,
05:02and another one for the big purchases.
05:05And then there's a fourth one,
05:07which just sits in a drawer but stays open
05:09because closing it lowers your credit score.
05:12Different cards are basically like different superpowers.
05:16One turns every purchase into frequent flyer miles.
05:19Another throws cash back at you like it's confetti.
05:22And a third hands out gift cards or free gas
05:26like some weird financial carnival prize.
05:28A lot of these programs quietly cap how many rewards you can earn.
05:32So if you want to squeeze every last drop out of your spending,
05:36having a few different rewards cards
05:38means you never leave points on the table.
05:41Banks are just happy about all of this
05:43as they make money from interest, fees, and card usage.
05:47Their marketing convinces you that rewards equal freedom.
05:51You know, that feel-good moment like,
05:53look at my platinum card, travel perks.
05:56But the math behind that perk comes from others
05:59who didn't pay off balances.
06:01It's all connected.
06:02The system created for convenience became a growth business.
06:06And you and I and millions of others are part of the engine.
06:10There's this guy who earns around 60 grand a year
06:14who ended up carrying about $45,000 in card debt
06:18with almost half of it already tossed into collections.
06:21Every single card he has is maxed out.
06:24It's the kind of situation where you can practically feel
06:27the walls closing in, even though on paper,
06:30he should be doing fine.
06:32It feels like watching someone run on a treadmill
06:34that keeps speeding up while everyone yells,
06:36just keep your balance from the sidelines.
06:40And using credit cards doesn't have to do with lower income.
06:43Actually, higher income households earning over $100,000
06:47use cards at a 95% rate.
06:51It's even kind of logical.
06:53More income means more access, which leads to more cards.
06:57But more access also means more temptation.
07:01I'm not saying credit cards are all evil.
07:03They are powerful.
07:05When you use them responsibly, I mean.
07:07Pay off balances, keep utilization low,
07:10diversify cards for real benefits.
07:12They can serve you.
07:13But letting them control you?
07:15That's where things go sideways.
07:17Because the same tools that build credit can also bury it.
07:21When I missed a payment due to something else,
07:23because yeah, life happens,
07:25I realized I had fewer cushions than I thought.
07:28Credit isn't a guarantee.
07:30It's a responsibility.
07:33If you woke up tomorrow without your cards,
07:35no rewards, no bonuses, no backup lines,
07:38would you still be fine?
07:40Would you pay off what you owe?
07:42Would you handle emergencies without borrowing more?
07:45That's not the questions banks want you to ask.
07:47They want you to open and borrow more and more.
07:51America isn't a place where people accidentally fall into credit culture.
07:55It's a place where the system teaches you how to use it.
07:58Like it or not,
07:59this is the financial environment almost everyone grows up in.
08:03And when I look at all of this,
08:05the history, the psychology, the marketing, the incentives,
08:08I feel like the entire story of credit cards in America isn't really about money at all.
08:14It's about identity, status, trust, and the dream of getting ahead.
08:20Credit cards let people buy present comfort with future earnings.
08:24They make every dream.
08:26New furniture, a five-star vacation, a fancy laptop, a luxurious car.
08:30Just one swipe closer.
08:33Whether that's empowering or dangerous depends on who you ask.
08:37But one thing is certain.
08:39The US isn't just the land of opportunity.
08:42It's the land of credit.
08:43Where having three credit cards isn't a sign of debt.
08:46It's a sign of financial literacy.
08:50That's it for today.
08:51So hey, if you pacified your curiosity,
08:53then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
08:56Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side.
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