Equifax, one of the three national credit reporting agencies, is reporting that consumers  are keeping more up to date on not just their credit cards, but their auto loans, mortgage loans, home equity and other consumer finance loans as well.

"Consumers continue to improve their credit management, through higher monthly payments on card accounts, refinancing of existing mortgage debt at lower rates, and lower delinquency rates pretty much across the board," said Equifax Chief Economist Amy Crews Cutts. "Growth in total credit is consistent with the overall improvement in the economy – slow, but steady – with the exception of mortgage debt which is declining overall."

The decline in mortgage debt is due to loans converting to real estate owned at the end of the foreclosure process, homeowners paying down debt faster through cash-in refinancing, or shortening of the mortgage term as well as borrowers curtailing the debt by adding a bit extra to their payment each month, Cutts added.