“Some banks see new cracks forming in a resilient US consumer”
September 18, 2023
“…Executives from Wells Fargo (WFC), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) and Capital One (COF) all said this past week that they are noticing a divergence between the two ends of their customer base, with lower income consumers feeling more pain on several fronts. They cited some credit deterioration, savings declines, and spending slowdowns…
“Renters with lower incomes are essentially back to or below pre-pandemic levels of liquidity. There is no buffer left there,” Spencer said Wednesday at a Barclays banking conference in New York…
That could all spell some trouble for banks that have been leaning heavily on consumer lending in recent quarters as companies turn more cautious about the economy. Credit card delinquencies have been steadily rising since 2021, according to Fed data, a steeper climb than any point since 2009 after dropping to multi-decade lows…”