As the new crown epidemic has curbed consumer opportunities, this worries banks about the prospects of one of their most profitable businesses.
Data from the Federal Reserve showed that in the last week of October, the total credit card loans held by US banks were US$755 billion, a decrease of US$100 billion from the time of the outbreak, and the balance has fallen in three of the past four weeks.
Credit agency TransUnion’s vice president of research, Komos, said: “Consumers no longer spend on restaurants and movies. A large part of (declining spending) also comes from travel.” TransUnion is responsible for collecting data on all credit card accounts in the United States.
He said that stimulus checks provided by the government, supplementary insurance benefits, and payment holidays for mortgage loans have all helped consumers reduce their balances.
Comos said: “We used to see considerable surges around the holidays, but our survey shows that people are hesitant to (spending).” “I would be surprised if Christmas does not perform well, but this It’s really hard to predict.”