VantageScore CreditGauge™ November 2024: Holiday Consumer Spending Muted By Inflation and Slow Credit Card Balance Growth

• Overall Credit Card Balances Rose Modestly
• New Credit Card Originations Up Slightly Month-Over-Month
• Early-Stage Credit Card Delinquencies Remained Stable

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- VantageScore, a leading national credit-scoring company, today released its November 2024 CreditGauge, a monthly analysis highlighting the overall health of U.S. consumer credit. The average VantageScore 4.0 credit score increased slightly but held at 702. The lowest VantageScore 4.0 credit score is 300, while the highest score is 850. In November 2024, Credit Card balances rose modestly year-over-year and month-over-month, indicating a muted start to the holiday shopping season. Newly opened Credit Card accounts rose compared to October 2024 but remained lower than a year ago. 

"As this year's early holiday spending season kicked off, consumers showed some restraint in opening new lines of credit and increasing their credit card balances," said Susan Fahy, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at VantageScore. "This cautious approach to credit highlights the impact of sustained inflation among consumers of all income levels."

Key insights for November 2024 CreditGauge include: 

OVERALL CREDIT BALANCES SLOWED, CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT BALANCES FLAT: In November 2024, overall credit balances declined $261 (-0.25%) month-over-month to $105,303. This was only the fourth time balances fell this year. Credit Card balances increased only $28 month-over-month and $197 year-over-year to $6,400. The average credit utilization rate remained steady at 30.8%, reflecting cautious spending. Across all products, the amount of available credit that borrowers used fell to 51.6%, continuing the steady decline from the pre-pandemic level of 54.1% as borrowers slowly pay down debt.  

CREDIT CARD ORIGINATIONS WERE UP SLIGHTLY COMPARED TO OCTOBER 2024: New Credit Card accounts increased 0.15% compared to October 2024 but were lower than November 2023.  Credit Card originations for low- and middle-income consumers declined slightly year-over-year and remained flat for high-income consumers. The decline in Credit Card originations was also seen year-over-year across all generations.

DELINQUENCIES REMAINED STABLE ACROSS ALL DPD CATEGORIES: In November 2024, Credit Card delinquencies in the 30-59 Days Past Due (DPD) improved by 0.03% compared to the prior month. Credit Card delinquencies held steady in the 60-89 DPD category, and 90-119 DPD credit delinquencies inched up slightly by 0.01%. 

To view the full CreditGauge report, visit the VantageScore website.

About VantageScore CreditGauge™
CreditGauge is provided both as a monthly analysis to industry stakeholders as well as through a series of interactive tools at VantageScore.com, which also includes Inclusion360®, RiskRatio^TM  and MarketGain^TM. Stakeholders can use the tools to execute additional queries on credit metrics and compare current levels to a pre-pandemic timeframe, starting with January 2020. CreditGauge solely represents the views and analysis of VantageScore and does not necessarily reflect or represent the views of the Nationwide Consumer Reporting Agencies (NCRAs) – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

About VantageScore®
VantageScore is the fastest-growing credit scoring company in the U.S., and is known for the industry's most innovative, predictive, and inclusive credit score models. In 2023, usage of VantageScore increased by 42% to more than 27 billion credit scores. More than 3,400 institutions, including 8 of the top 10 banks, use VantageScore credit scores to provide consumer credit products including credit cards, auto loans, personal loans and mortgages. The VantageScore 4.0 credit scoring model scores 33 million more people than traditional models. With the FHFA mandating the use of VantageScore 4.0 for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guaranteed mortgages, the company is also ushering in a new era for mortgage lending and helping to close the homeownership gap.

VantageScore is an independently managed joint venture company of the three Nationwide Consumer Reporting Agencies (NCRAs) – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. 

SOURCE VantageScore