U.S. consumers paid back credit card debt at record levels in August, a sign that most Americans have been managing their high debt burden, Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday.

Credit cardholders on average repaid their account balances at a rate of 17.16 percent in August, surpassing the previous high of 15.63 percent set in August 2003, the credit ratings agency said.

"The payment rate has increased from its year-earlier levels for the past 15 consecutive months, demonstrating an improvement in cardholders' willingness and ability to make payments on their credit card debts," Moody's said in a statement.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan concurred with that assessment in a speech to a group of community bankers in Washington on Tuesday.

"In recent years, banks and thrifts have been experiencing low delinquency rates on home mortgage and credit card debt, a situation suggesting that the vast majority of households are managing their debt well," Greenspan said.

Banks and other credit card issuers wrote off fewer bad accounts in August. The chargeoff rate fell to 6.01 percent, down 6.88 percent from August 2003, Moody's said.

Delinquency rate on card payments, which are 30 days past due, slipped to 4.32 percent in August from 5.11 percent a year earlier, the rating service said.

Moody's tracks the credit performance of more than $400 billion worth of U.S. credit card receivables, which are packaged into bonds known as asset-backed securities.

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