ARLINGTON, Va.—Total consumer credit rose 5.5% in October on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis and is up 4.8% versus a year ago.
NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long credited the results to continuous growth in the revolving credit sector, which grew 4.3%.
"The revolving sector increased at an annualized rate of 8.8%, its biggest uptick since July," said Long. "Households have strong balance sheets and the scope for further increases in credit, but the Fed’s latest senior loan officer survey confirmed that lenders are continuing to tighten underwriting standards, particularly for higher-risk borrowers."
Total consumer credit for credit unions remained unchanged in October from the previous month, compared to a 0.8% increase for banks and a 0.2% increase for financial companies. From a year prior, total consumer credit at credit unions rose 3.7% – a significant slowdown from the start of the year – while banks and financial companies saw increases of 5.3% and 0.6%, respectively.
Credit unions now own 11.7% of the market, continuing a steady streak. Meanwhile, financial companies' market share fell from 13.5% to 1.9% over that period, while banks' share rose slightly to 41.7%, Long said.