Credit card trusts saw delinquency rates rise modestly in January for each of the seven banks tracked by Seeking Alpha in its monthly roundup, while net charge-off rates were a mixed lot. Taking a long view, though, the delinquency and charge-off numbers still appear stronger than the metrics from January 2020, before the pandemic roiled the economy.
Either consumers paid down some debt or credit card lenders pulled back on lending last month. Total loans from the seven trusts were $521.4B, down 2.3% from December’s total.
The average delinquency rate in January increased to 2.81% from 2.75% in December and from 2.58% a year ago.
The average net charge-off rate of 3.53% rose from 3.27% in the prior month and dropped from 4.11% in January 2025. Bread Holdings (BFH), though, can skew the average because its net charge-off rate is significantly higher than the others. Excluding Bread, the average net charge-off rate was 2.94%, down from 3.13% in December and 3.50% in January 2025.
American Express (AXP), Synchrony Financial (SYF), Citigroup (C), and Bread Financial (BFH) saw their net charge-off rates decline month-over-month, while Capital One (COF), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Bank of America (BAC) saw net charge-off rates rise.
Total delinquencies for J.P. Morgan’s Trust Tracker Index rose by 5 basis points M/M to 1.28%, in line with J.P. Morgan analyst Richard Shane’s expectations. Net charge-offs for the index improved by 11 bps M/M to 1.84%, “modestly outperforming JPMe of 1.92%,” the analyst noted.
Source: SEC filings, company statements.
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