Credit-Card Debt Keeps Falling. Banks Are On Edge.

Discover Financial Services said on its earnings call last month that the share of card balances that were paid off at the end of the first quarter were at the highest level since 2000.

said that nearly half of the credit-card balances it had at the beginning of March were paid off by the end of the month, which the company described as historically high.

Card balances at the three companies were down 9%, 17% and 7% in the first quarter from a year prior, respectively.