Morning Interest
CURATED BYPaul Ivinskas

Topics

Credit trends

Delinquencies, charge-offs, consumer credit balances and the data that track them.

19 items in 10 issues, Oct 24, 2026 to Nov 9, 2026, newest first. Each item links to the issue it ran in, where its sources are listed.

Related: Buy now, pay laterAffirmRates and the FedOportunUpstartFraud and underwritingDeals and fundingAI and agentic commerce

November 2026

  • Mon, Nov 9 · Credit & the economy

    Consumer credit. Total consumer credit grew at a seasonally adjusted 6.4% annualized rate in September, up from 1.9% in August and 4.1% in July, the Federal Reserve's G.19 report showed Friday. It was the fastest pace since November 2022 in the Fed's revised data and about double the 3.0% average of the past four quarters (2.1%, 2.6%, 3.1% and 4.2%). Monthly readings swing widely. Third-quarter growth was 4.2% annualized, with revolving credit up 4.1% and nonrevolving up 4.2%.

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  • Mon, Nov 9 · Credit & the economy

    Balances. Revolving credit climbed $16.3 billion in September to $1.37 trillion, after falling $5.0 billion in August. That 14.5% annualized pace, the fastest since November 2023, compares with a 4.2% average over the past four quarters. Nonrevolving loans such as auto and student debt rose $11.5 billion to $3.86 trillion, putting total consumer credit at $5.22 trillion. It is up $44.1 billion so far this year, from $1.32 trillion in December, and its monthly growth rates have averaged 4.4% annualized through September, matching 2024's 4.4% at this point and up from 2.9% in 2025.

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  • Mon, Nov 9 · Credit & the economy

    Tuesday: household debt. The New York Fed releases its third-quarter Household Debt and Credit Report Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET, adding delinquency data to Friday's G.19 balances. Its second-quarter report put credit card balances at $1.26 trillion, up $21 billion, and total household debt at $18.77 trillion. In the second quarter, an annualized 6.97% of card balances moved into serious delinquency (90 days or more), up from 6.93% a year earlier.

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  • Sun, Nov 8 · The week ahead

    Household debt. The New York Fed publishes its third-quarter Household Debt and Credit Report Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. ET, with a Liberty Street Economics post on newly delinquent card borrowers.

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  • Sun, Nov 8 · Company spotlight: Affirm

    Credit. Thirty-day-plus delinquencies on monthly installment loans rose to 2.9%, up 35 basis points from June and 9 basis points from a year earlier. The provision for credit losses climbed to $259.4 million from $162.8 million. CFO Rob O'Hare said Affirm "did choose to run some experiments within the approvals and the origination" and kept those loans on its balance sheet. He added that "the experiment itself was pretty localized to the month of September."

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  • Sun, Nov 8 · Company spotlight: Affirm, part 2

    Summer. Canada's CPP Investments renewed its forward-flow commitment in June at $1.7 billion, expandable to $2.2 billion, and Affirm more than doubled its revolving credit facility to $675 million. Stripe opened Affirm to U.K. merchants, and in August Affirm named former CFO Michael Linford president alongside Libor Michalek.

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  • Sat, Nov 7 · Charges

    Affirm's slide. Affirm lost 7.3% for the week despite beating forecasts and raising its fiscal 2027 GMV outlook to more than $65.25 billion. Truist flagged "concerns around the credit allowance" and a holiday-quarter GMV guide of $17.9 billion to $18.2 billion that it called "more conservative than usual."

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  • Sat, Nov 7 · Credits

    Near-prime credit. Oportun's 30-day delinquencies eased to 4.1% from 4.7% and annualized net charge-offs fell to 10.6% from 11.8%, while originations rose 12% to $571.8 million. Upstart grew originations 44% to $4.1 billion, but CEO Paul Gu said "Macro is putting pressure on our near-term outlook."

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  • Sat, Nov 7 · Closing balance

    Tuesday, Nov. 10. The Labor Department releases the October consumer price index at 8:30 a.m. ET, the next test for a December hike. At 11:00 a.m. ET the New York Fed publishes its third-quarter Household Debt and Credit Report, alongside a Liberty Street Economics post on newly delinquent card borrowers.

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  • Fri, Nov 6 · Earnings

    Affirm. Affirm shares fell more than 4% before the open even as it beat forecasts and raised its fiscal 2027 GMV outlook to more than $65.25 billion. Fiscal first-quarter GMV rose 33% to $14.4 billion and revenue reached $1.26 billion, but Truist flagged "concerns around the credit allowance" and a second-quarter GMV guide of $17.9 billion to $18.2 billion that it called "more conservative than usual." CEO Max Levchin called credit "job number zero" on the Nov. 5 call. Management tied the higher provisions to September approval and origination experiments kept on its balance sheet and said they are reserved appropriately. Levchin said a new transformer model could add 2 to 3 percentage points of approvals with essentially no added loss. Funding costs rose 27 basis points from the prior quarter, partly on seasonality, though more than 70% of on-balance-sheet funding is fixed rate and a recent ABS deal was more than four times oversubscribed. More than 80% of Affirm Card loans have historically been interest-bearing. About one million products in the Affirm app already carry brand-funded promotions, and Levchin expects 0% volume to grow in agentic commerce as Affirm builds APIs for shopping agents.

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  • Wed, Nov 4 · Earnings

    Oportun. Oportun's credit improved: 30-day delinquencies eased to 4.1% from 4.7% and annualized net charge-offs fell to 10.6% from 11.8%, while originations rose 12% to $571.8 million. The near-prime lender raised its 2026 revenue and adjusted EPS outlook. CEO Doug Bland pointed to growth "while maintaining a disciplined credit posture."

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  • Sun, Nov 1 · The week ahead

    Upstart, Oportun. Both report Tue Nov 3: reads on AI underwriting and near-prime installment credit quality.

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October 2026

  • Fri, Oct 30 · Earnings

    OneMain Q3. Reported this morning. Net income $185M ($1.60 GAAP EPS, $1.51 adjusted) vs $199M a year ago. Managed receivables rose 9% to $28.1B and consumer loan originations 17% to $4.5B. 30+ delinquency improved to 5.34% from 5.55%, but the consumer loan net charge-off rate rose to 6.89% from 6.67%. Its credit card book grew to $1.38B from $834M a year ago. Dividend held at $1.05.

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  • Tue, Oct 27 · BNPL & lending

    Affirm holiday push. In an Oct 26 commentary, Affirm cited Adobe's forecast of $21.3B in US online BNPL spend for Nov-Dec (+6.6% YoY). It put 30+ day delinquencies at 2.7% of monthly installment balances, and said 96% of transactions come from repeat users. It is positioning Pay in 4 (0% APR) directly against holiday card balances.

    Read in the issue →
  • Mon, Oct 26 · The big story: EU credit rules for Klarna & PayPal (CCD2)

    What happens Nov 20. The EU's revised Consumer Credit Directive (2023/2225) applies from Nov 20, 2026. It replaces the 2008 rules and pulls buy-now-pay-later and third-party invoice credit into full consumer-credit law, for loans up to EUR 100,000. Orders placed through Nov 19 stay under the old rules.

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  • Mon, Oct 26 · The big story: EU credit rules for Klarna & PayPal (CCD2)

    How providers are preparing. Klarna has been reissuing consumer credit agreements ahead of the deadline, including for recurring and subscription charges. Expect more declines at the margin, more bank-account and open-banking data in underwriting, and pressure on approval rates, conversion and holiday-season volumes. That lands just as Black Friday falls a week after go-live.

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  • Sat, Oct 24 · Earnings

    Capital One Q3. EPS of $5.61 (vs $4.83). Domestic card net charge-offs were 3.98% (from 4.63% a year ago), and purchase volume rose 11% to $250B. Discover network volume rose 25% to $190.9B, and Discover integration costs were $338M.

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  • Sat, Oct 24 · Earnings

    Bread Financial Q3. Bread Financial's adj. EPS of $3.84 beat ~$3.33 consensus, on revenue of $1.02B. It improved FY26 net loss guidance to 6.9-7.0% (from 7.0-7.1%).

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  • Sat, Oct 24 · BNPL & lending

    Synchrony. CareCredit Pay Later (Oct 21) is a one-time-use, fixed-APR installment loan for out-of-pocket care, live at ~20,000 locations and shown next to the revolving card. It will roll out network-wide. Context: SYF Q3 net charge-offs were 4.79%, against FY guidance of under 5.5%.

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