WASHINGTON—Led by credit cards, total consumer credit rose 10.9%, at a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate, in November and is up 5.8% compared to a year ago. Revolving credit, primarily credit cards, rose 23.3% during the month and is up 5.7% compared to November 2020.
“Consumer credit saw explosive growth in November thanks to a surge in credit card spending,” said NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long. “Revolving debt advanced by over 23% on an annualized basis during the month. Much of that is likely due to earlier-than-normal Christmas shopping.”
Total consumer credit for credit unions rose 1.1%, on seasonally adjusted basis, in November, compared to a 2.1% rise for banks and 0.4% rise for financial companies. From a year prior, total consumer credit at credit unions rose 5.1% while banks experienced a 7.9% gain and a financial companies rose 5.3%.
Decline in Marketshare
Over the past 12 months, credit unions’ share of the market fell by 0.1 percentage points to 12.0%. Meanwhile, banks’ share increased by 0.8 percentage points to 40.8%, and financial companies' share fell by 0.1 percentage points to 13.2%.
“NAFCU expects more sturdy growth in consumer credit over the medium term as households that paid off credit balances during COVID normalize their balance sheets," concluded Long.