Americans earning $125,000 to $130,000 a year, with FICO scores north of 720, are using credit cards to buy eggs and gas. Not because they’re broke. Because they’re maxed out. The liquidity is gone. The paycheck’s spoken for. And the plastic is doing the heavy lifting.
LendingClub calls it the “affluent debt trap.” It’s not a theory. It’s a business model. Their new LevelUp Checking account is built for this exact demographic. High earners. High debt. Low cash. The account doesn’t offer more credit. It offers rewards for not using it. Cash-back on groceries. Early access to paychecks. Incentives for paying off loans. It’s a debit card that pays you for staying out of the hole.
They make $130K a year.
Have 725 credit scores.
And they’re using credit cards… to buy groceries ya'll!!!LendingClub says the affluent debt crisis is real, and it’s betting big on fixing it.
— Amanda Goodall (@thejobchick) June 20, 2025
PYMNTS data shows 44 percent of consumers who use credit cards for essentials are using them for groceries. That includes six-figure earners. Not just low-income households. This isn’t about poverty. It’s about cash flow. Or the lack of it.
LendingClub’s CEO Scott Sanborn says these consumers “have enough money to afford things but lack the immediate cash to pay for them outright.” So they swipe. Then they carry. Then they pay 21.4 percent APR on a bag of groceries. The average cardholder with debt owes $7,321. That’s not a one-off. That’s the national average.
And they’re not ashamed. They’re strategic. Eighty-three percent of cardholders earning over $100,000 are still chasing credit card rewards while carrying a balance. They’re financing groceries at loan shark rates to earn 2 percent cash-back. It’s not irrational. It’s just upside down.
LendingClub isn’t alone in spotting the opportunity. Neobanks are racing to monetize the mess. Chime built its brand on low-income, underbanked users. LevelUp is the inverse. It’s for the overbanked. The ones with luxury mortgages and no liquidity. The ones who qualify for platinum cards but can’t pay them off.
This is the new middle class. High income. High debt. No cushion. The illusion of wealth, backed by revolving credit. And fintechs are lining up to skim the margins.
Sources:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/high-earners-credit-card-debt-090430021.html