Canadian credit card delinquency has declined for the 11th consecutive quarter in the third quarter of 2002, even as credit card debt is up 6% in September 2002, year over year to $32.6 billion, says Moody’s Investors Service in a new report.

“The percent of Canadian credit card accounts that are 30 or more days past due fell by nearly 11% to 2.29% of accounts, compared to 2.57% for the same period in 2001, and marked the lowest quarterly rate dating back to the first quarter 1999,” said Moody’s analyst Sumant Inamdar, author of the report.

Canadian cardholders continued to expand the use of their credit cards as average outstanding balances grew 6.9% to approximately $32.6 billion dollars as of September 30, compared to a year earlier.

Canadian credit cards maintain their strength over their U.S. counterparts as demonstrated by a delinquency rate that is about half of the U.S. rate, which is 5.5% of accounts compared to Canada’s 2.29% of accounts, and by stronger percentage of accounts that payoff their balances each month. The Canadian rate in the third quarter of 2002 was 34.81% compared to the same period in 2001 when the rate was 33%, the analyst said.

The U.S. rate is slightly under 15% for the third quarter 2002, compared to slightly over 15% for the same period in 2001.

The continued difference between payment rates in Canada and the United States illustrates the greater number of Canadian cardholders that use their cards for convenience rather than credit compared to Americans.