Personal loans are masking Americans’ credit card problems

Folks who turned to personal loans to manage outstanding balances on credit cards are finding themselves back in card debt months later.

A survey conducted by TransUnion between April 2021 and September 2022 found that borrowers who used a personal loan to consolidate their credit card debt saw their balances decrease by 57% on average, but for many, those balances returned close to their previous levels 18 months later.

Researchers from LendingTree found similar results, with borrowers again…