CHICAGO — Only 18 months ago, Wade Thomas had credit card debt of $16,480 on his 20 credit, retail and gas cards.

But when the Austin, Texas, travel planner lost his job in July 2009 at a company for which he had worked for 11 years, he decided to use some of his severance package to reduce his debt.

Today, Thomas' combined credit card balance stands at $2,550.

"I only charge what I'm able to pay off in a sensible duration," typically a month or two, said Thomas, 32, who found work in April. He uses his Discover card most often because it offers a percentage of cash back on purchases.

Credit card debt per borrower is falling, according to credit reporting firm TransUnion. But consumers' resolve will continue to be tested. That's because Discover, Target, Chase and others are dialing up their card rewards programs, introducing new products or boosting marketing to get consumers to use plastic more often.

Riverwoods, Ill.-based Discover Financial Services last month said its third-quarter marketing expense will likely be at its highest level since the third quarter of 2008.

"The biggest opportunity is from our current card member base, because we've got about a quarter of U.S. households who have a Discover card, and we don't have a quarter of the market in spending and loans," CEO David Nelms said last month.

On July 1, Chase's "Ultimate Rewards" program launched a national ad campaign touting the benefits of its credit and debit cards.

And last month, Target announced that this fall shoppers will receive a 5 percent discount each day they use the retailer's Redcards, including the Target credit card and Target check card. The Target credit card currently carries an annual interest rate of 25.2 percent.

But don't expect Rodger Malcolm Mitchell of Wilmette, Ill., to apply for one. The retired business owner and economist said he never carries a balance on his MasterCard, a United Airlines Mileage Plus Visa or Costco-branded American Express, which offers discounts everywhere.

Mitchell, 75, prefers membership cards over retail-branded credit cards.

"Membership cards do essentially the same thing with less hassle," said Mitchell, who has such discount cards from grocers Jewel and Dominick's and restaurant group Lettuce Entertain You.

Because he's unlikely to apply for retail cards, he avoids shopping at those stores because he knows he's not getting the special discounts their card members get.

Consumers have cut their levels of outstanding revolving debt, which consists overwhelmingly of credit cards, by an annualized, seasonally adjusted rate of 10.5 percent in May, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday. Revolving credit is a line of credit allowing consumers to pay all or part of an outstanding balance, and, as the balance is paid, it becomes available to spend again as credit.

But it's not known how much debt banks or merchants will charge off, or basically remove from their books because they've deemed it uncollectable. The first quarter's 10.1 percent charge-off rate, for example, matched the highest level over the last 25 years.

In the first quarter, about 40 percent of the decline in credit card debt was due to charge-offs, Cardhub.com said. And though consumers did pay down $36 billion in credit card debt in the first quarter, that's still 23 percent less than they repaid a year earlier, it said.

Consumer bankruptcy filings nationwide are up 14 percent over the same period a year ago, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. The bankruptcy process cancels many debts.