Auto lending

More than a year into the pandemic, with the U.S. economy improving and consumers having paid down debt, bankers are finally loosening the reins in auto lending and credit cards.

Looming defaults and the potential for heavier regulatory scrutiny have prompted banks to pull back from the sector. Is that a good thing?

The company’s retail banking and auto-lending businesses in the U.S. generated a larger share of overall profits in the first quarter, and Executive Chairman Ana Botín and other executives unveiled expansion plans for both units.

Surging used-car prices — brought on by a combination of strong consumer demand and limited new-vehicle supply — are boosting loan yields and profits at the Detroit company.

In the midst of the pandemic recession, banks have benefited from government stimulus payments to consumers, low interest rates and constraints on the supply of new vehicles. But intensifying competition and real concerns about borrowers’ ability to pay loans that went into forbearance could soon threaten profits and credit quality.

Rohit Chopra, President Biden’s nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has not minced words in calling out private companies for wrongdoing. He could get a grilling from Banking Committee Republicans and some opposition on the Senate floor.

After a slowdown in 2020, inventory shortages and other factors could make the months ahead a grind for many lenders.

The Detroit automaker says it will stick to car loans and steer clear of mortgage lending if regulators approve its application to establish an industrial bank.

The Pittsburgh company also sold a portfolio of indirect auto loans and repaid a large amount of Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings.

The automaker is reportedly planning to apply for a bank charter so it could collect deposits and grow its own auto-finance business. That could create more competition for Ally, which was spun off from GM in 2006 but remains a key lending partner.

The median credit score for new mortgages and refinancings climbed to 786 during the third quarter, its highest level in more than two decades, according to a report from the New York Fed.

Payment rates for auto lenders and credit card issuers have remained strong despite a spike in unemployment. Whether these trends continue into 2021 will depend largely on the actions of Congress and the pace of medical advances.

The subprime lender cited low odds that Washington will deliver further economic relief, and the fact that $1.5 billion of loans whose deferral period expired are now more than 30 days behind.

The auto lender says consumers’ skittishness about flying and using public transit during the pandemic has fueled a surge in demand for new and used cars. But executives remain wary of high unemployment and the potential for a rise in loan defaults.

Credit union groups continue to make ad buys for industry-supported candidates in advance of Nov. 3, but recent positive economic news could be short-lived.

Kathy Kraninger’s job status would be in question if Joe Biden wins the White House. If the president is reelected, she may continue balancing a deregulatory agenda with her unexpectedly tough stance on enforcement.

Originations in the third quarter are on pace to double what the Detroit lender reported a quarter earlier, adding more high-yielding loans to the balance sheet.

Credit card balances declined most sharply as consumers cut back their spending due to the coronavirus pandemic and associated shutdown orders, the New York Fed said Thursday. But delinquencies also fell across all debt categories, thanks to government and lender relief efforts.

The enhanced jobless benefits in the coronavirus relief law enacted in March helped limit delinquencies and maintain consumer spending, analysts say. In their follow-up stimulus plan, Senate Republicans want to cut those benefits from $600 to $200 a week.