American consumers are becoming consumed by their own credit card debt. More and more American credit card users are becoming delinquent and defaulting on their payments, Associated Press reports.

From October 2006 to October 2007, the value of credit card accounts that were at least 30 days overdue shot up 26 percent to more than $17 billon at the U.S.’s 17 largest card issuers. Defaults, which occur when the lender gives up on the debtor altogether and writes off the debt, jumped 18 percent and are approaching the $1 billion mark.

AP reports that 90-day delinquencies represented the worst percentage jump, with major lenders saying that the value of overdue accounts had increased by 50 percent or more.

“Until recently, credit card default rates had been running close to record lows,” the report says, “providing one of the few profit growth areas for the nation’s banks, which continue to flood Americans’ mailboxes with billions of letters monthly offering easy sign-ups for new plastic.”

Why would U.S. banks continue to offer easy credit to consumers in such a financial climate? The article continues:

Even after the recent spike in bad loans, the credit card business is still quite lucrative, thanks to interest rates that can run as high as 36 percent, plus late fees and other penalties.But what is coming into sharper focus from the detailed monthly [Securities and Exchange Commission] filings from the trusts is a snapshot of the worrisome state of Americans’ ability to juggle growing and expensive credit card debt.

The report indicates that missed payments may be set to surge even further following the consumerist, credit-binging American holiday season:

Mark Zandi, chief economist and co-founder of Moody’s Economy.com Inc., cited mounting mortgage problems that began after this summer’s subprime financial shock as one of the culprits, as well as a weakening job market in the Midwest, South and parts of the West, where real-estate markets have been particularly hard hit. …Economists also cite America’s long-standing attitude that debt—even high-interest credit card debt—is not a big deal.”The desires of consumers to want, want, want, spend, spend, spend—it’s the fabric of our nation,” said Howard Dvorkin, founder of Consolidated Credit Counseling Services in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which has advised more than 5 million people in debt. “But you always have to pay the piper, and that can be a very painful process.”

Watch for individual irresponsibility and institutional greed to continue to hamstring and ultimately help debilitate the American economy as a whole. For more on this subject, read “When the Debt Bomb Explodes.” For a look at honesty and the economy, read “Our Economy’s Boiler Room.”