Here's a fun chart. It's a Google Trends chart showing the frequency of people searching the term 'Credit Card.' (Via @soberlook and @naufalsanaullah)
It's a little hard to know the significance of some parts of the chart. The jump in 2009 could be about people looking for help paying off their credit cards, rather than signaling intent to acquire them.
But the latest spike seems pretty unmistakable - a break from the uptrend as consumers are more inclined to put spending on plastic.