Search Results
Showing results 1 to 2 of approximately 2.
(refine search)
Working Paper
Does getting a mortgage affect credit card use?
Buying a house changes a household?s balance sheet by simultaneously reducing liquidity and introducing mortgage payments, which may leave the household more exposed to other shocks. We find that this change affects credit card use in two ways: A debt effect increases credit card spending, while a credit effect leads to higher credit limits. In the short run, a new mortgage acquisition has a robust and statistically significant positive effect on credit card utilization ? the fraction of a consumer?s credit card limit that is used ? of approximately 11 percentage points. Before the 2008 ...
Report
Credit Card Spending and Borrowing since the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Consumers improved their financial health early during the COVID-19 pandemic, but credit card revolving and delinquencies have been rising since 2021, in terms of both the share of accounts and average balances. Financial stress is especially high among lower-income cardholders, whose credit card revolving and delinquencies have risen faster than those of other income cohorts. This is consistent with excess savings being depleted faster among lower-income cohorts. The rising financial stress suggests a weakening in consumption as utilization rates, revolving amounts, and delinquencies all ...