Total consumer credit increased by 4.3 percent in January following a 6 percent monthly increase in December.
“Consumer credit expanded by a slower pace in January. The revolving segment reported its smallest gains since 2015,” National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long wrote in NAFCU’s latest Macro Data Flash report. “However, credit card spending is expected to improve as both after-tax income and consumer confidence rise.”
Long noted that revolving credit — which is primarily credit cards — saw its slowest increase in three years. Revolving credit rose just 0.8 percent in January, while non-revolving credit, which is mostly vehicle and education loans, increased 5.6 percent.
Further, total consumer credit at credit unions rose 1 percent in January over the previous month, while it decreased 1.1 percent decrease for banks and 0.5 percent decrease for financial companies.
“Credit unions’ portfolio of consumer credit was up 11.6 percent from last year,” Long said. “Credit unions now own 11.1 percent of the market, which is up from 10.5 percent a year ago.”
Banks’ market share was 41.5 percent in January, which is up slightly from one year ago. Meanwhile, financial companies’ share fell from 14.9 percent to 13.9 percent.