Consumer Statistics

Consumer Debt

Aggregate Indebtedness of Consumers

Total consumer credit outstanding is broken down into two categories in the G.19 report: revolving and nonrevolving credit. The G.19, a Federal Reserve report covering consumer credit, is released around the 5th business day of each month. The G.19 report contains statistics for the amounts of outstanding credit among several major holders of consumer credit. Also included are the terms of credit across a variety of institutions and types of loans.

Access at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/current/g19.htm

Consumer Debt Composition

The data used to show consumer debt composition come from two subsections of the Federal Reserve Flow of Funds Accounts (Z.1). These subsections (Tables D.1 and D.3) measure debt growth and debt outstanding in several sectors. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors releases these statistics during the second week of March, June, September, and December.

Access at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/ under "Debt growth, borrowing and debt outstanding tables."

Holders of Consumer Debt

The data used to show the level of consumer debt held by several sectors come from two subsections of the Federal Reserve Flow of Funds Accounts (Z.1). These subsections (Tables L.218 and L.222) measure the outstandings of home mortgages and consumer credit held as assets by government and nongovernment institutions. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors releases these statistics during the second week of March, June, September, and December.

Access at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/ under "Level tables"

Credit Performance

Loan Charge-Offs

The charge-off statistics released by the Federal Reserve Board are calculated from data available in the Report of Condition and Income (Call Report), filed each quarter by all commercial banks. Charge-off rates for any category of loan are defined as the flow of a bank's net charge-offs (gross charge-offs minus recoveries) during a quarter divided by the average level of its loans outstanding over that quarter. Data for each calendar quarter become available approximately 60 days after the end of the quarter.

Access at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/chargeoff/

Loan Delinquencies

The delinquency statistics presented on the Federal Reserve Board's website are calculated from data available in the Report of Condition and Income (Call Report), filed each quarter by all commercial banks. The delinquency rate for any loan category is the ratio of the dollar amount of a bank's delinquent loans in that category to the dollar amount of total loans outstanding in that category. Data for each calendar quarter become available approximately 60 days after the end of the quarter.

Access at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/chargeoff/

Bankruptcy

The statistics used to measure bankruptcy filings come from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Included are bankruptcy filings by both business and nonbusiness entities. It is also important to note the surge of bankruptcies in 2005 due to the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA), which took effect on October 17, 2005.

Access at: http://www.uscourts.gov/bnkrpctystats/bankruptcystats.htm

Credit Standards and the Demand for Credit

The data used to describe the availability of credit come from two questions asked by the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS), specifically questions 16 and 20. This survey covers approximately 60 large domestic banks and 24 U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks. The Federal Reserve generally conducts the survey quarterly, timing it so that results are available for the January/February, April/May, August, and October/November meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee. Questions cover changes in the standards and terms of the banks' lending and the state of business and household demand for loans, or occasionally specific topics of current interest.

Access at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/snloansurvey/

Note: This graph displays the net percentage balance of consumer lending, which is a measure of banks tightening minus banks easing their lending practices.

Note: The height of the line in the above graph is the net percentage of banks with strengthening demand for consumer loans. This does not correspond directly to the table, which displays the number of banks and not the percentage.

Credit at the Family Level

The data used to describe the revolving credit of families come from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). The SCF is a triennial survey of the balance sheet, pension, income, and other demographic characteristics of U.S. families. The survey also gathers information on the use of financial institutions.

Access at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/oss/oss2/scfindex.html

Maps of Local Credit Quality

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York publishes regional information on consumer credit conditions addressing mortgage delinquency and foreclosure issues. The U.S. Credit Conditions section offers interactive maps and data on auto and student loan delinquencies and mortgage "roll" rates. These features complement existing maps and spreadsheets on mortgage foreclosures and delinquencies, measures of subprime and alt-A mortgages, and bank credit card delinquencies. The data are available at the state and county level.

Access at: http://data.newyorkfed.org/creditconditions/

Noncash Payments

The data used to describe noncash payments comes from the 2004 and 2007 editions of the Federal Reserve Payments Studies. These studies are part of a Federal Reserve System effort to track noncash payments in the United States, and they reflect the efforts of hundreds of organizations across the country. Some of the estimates in the 2007 payments study come from the 2007 Depository Institutions Payments Study and the 2007 Electronic Payments Study.

Access at: http://www.frbservices.org/files/communications/pdf/research/2007_payments_study.pdf

Checks

The data used to describe checks come from the 2004 and the 2007 Federal Reserve Payments Studies and the 2007 Federal Reserve Check Sample Study. The payments studies are part of a Federal Reserve System effort to track noncash payments in the United States, and they reflect the efforts of hundreds of organizations across the country. The 2007 Check Sample Study collected responses from nine large commercial banks, which account for approximately 40 percent of all checks processed, in an effort to better understand how checks are being used.

Access at:

• http://www.frbservices.org/files/communications/pdf/research/2007_payments_study.pdf
• http://www.frbservices.org/files/communications/pdf/research/2007_check_sample_study.pdf

Credit Cards

The data used to describe credit cards come from the 2004 and the 2007 Federal Reserve Payments Studies and The Nilson Report, a twice-monthly newsletter based in Carpinteria, California. The payments studies are part of a Federal Reserve System effort to track noncash payments in the United States, and they reflect the efforts of hundreds of organizations across the country. Nilson kindly permits some of its data to be included in tabulations that appear in the U.S. Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United States. Data from the 2009 edition are included here. More recent data should be obtained directly from Nilson.

Access at:

• http://www.frbservices.org/files/communications/pdf/research/2007_payments_study.pdf
• http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/banking_finance_insurance/
  payment_systems_consumer_credit_mortgage_debt.html

Debit Cards

The data used to describe credit cards come from the 2004 and 2007 Federal Reserve Payments Studies and The Nilson Report, a twice-monthly newsletter based in Carpinteria, California. The payments studies are part of a Federal Reserve System effort to track noncash payments in the United States, and they reflect the efforts of hundreds of organizations across the country. Nilson kindly permits some of its data to be included in tabulations that appear in the U.S. Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United States. Data from the 2009 edition are included here. More recent data should be obtained directly from Nilson.

Access at:

• http://www.frbservices.org/files/communications/pdf/research/2007_payments_study.pdf
• http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/banking_finance_insurance/
  payment_systems_consumer_credit_mortgage_debt.html

ACH

The data used to describe automated clearing house (ACH) payments come from quarterly statistical reports published publicly by NACHA, the Electronic Payments Association. NACHA is a non-for-profit that oversees the ACH network. In NACHA's quarterly reports, it publishes the breakdown of ACH transactions from the previous quarter and tracks growth.

Access at: http://www.nacha.org/news/Stats/stats.html

Adoption of Payments by Households

The data used to describe the adoption of payments by households come from tables in an article by Loretta Mester published in the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Business Review. These tables are based on the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) as well as the author's calculations. The SCF is a triennial survey of the balance sheet, pension, income, and other demographic characteristics of U.S. families. The survey also gathers information on the use of financial institutions.

Access at:

• http://www.philadelphiafed.org/research-and-data/publications/business-review/2009/q3/brq309_changes-in-electronic-payment.pdf (exhibit 1, parts 1 and 2)
• http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/oss/oss2/scfindex.html

Adoption of Payments by Households (%)

	1995	1998	2001	2004	2007
ATM	62.5	67.4	69.8	74.4	79.7
Debit Card	17.6	33.8	47.0	59.3	67.0
Smart Card1	1.2	1.9	2.9
Direct Deposit	46.7	60.5	67.3	71.2	74.9
Automatic Bill Paying	21.8	36.0	40.3	47.4	45.5
Note: The percentages reported are based on the population-weighted figures using the revised Kennickell-Woodburn consistent weights for each year. (For further discussion see the Survey of Consumer Finances codebooks at www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/oss/oss2/scfindex.html.) This exhibit reports percentages for all households. 1 The questions on ATMs and smart cards asked whether any member of the household had an ATM card or a smart card, not whether the member used it. The other questions asked about usage. The question on smart cards was dropped after the 2001 survey.

Survey of Consumer Payment Choice

As described on its website, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston publishes the Survey of Consumer Payment Choice (SCPC), which develops comprehensive, publicly available data on consumer payment behavior. The 2008 SCPC is a nationally representative survey of consumer payment behavior developed by the Consumer Payments Research Center of the Boston Fed and implemented by the RAND Corporation with its American Life Panel. The primary purpose of the 2008 SCPC is to publish and document the aggregate statistics obtained from the data to help researchers learn how consumers choose among nine payment instruments, including cash. The 2008 SCPC report contains detailed tables providing a view of consumers' behavior regarding paper instruments, payment cards, as well as electronic instruments. The data are based on the half-hour, Internet-based survey administered by the RAND Corporation to a sample of U.S. consumers drawn from its American Life Panel.

Access at: http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/ppdp/2009/ppdp0910.htm