Americans are keeping their credit-card debt a secret from their partners. A survey by NerdWallet found two in five Americans think credit-card debt is embarrassing and have lied about other finances.  

Credit card debt carries a growing stigma, polls suggest. An earlier NerdWallet survey found that one-third of married Americans with card debt haven’t told their spouse what they owe. In the new report, two-fifths of respondents said it would be all right to have a credit card a partner doesn’t know about.

The national credit-card balance is around one trillion dollars and interest rates are topping 20 percent. A typical American household now carries around $10,000 in card debt, by one recent WalletHub estimate. 

A rising share of cardholders carry a balance from one month to the next.

Researchers say younger Americans are more likely to keep financial secrets from a partner.