Consumer Finance
Our Consumer Finance Institute researches how people earn, spend, save, and invest, as well as how credit markets and payment systems affect the economy. Our goal is to foster a healthy consumer sector, a stable financial system, and a resilient regional and national economy.
Report
Do Recent Auto Loan Delinquency Rates Overstate Borrower Distress?
Headlines about record-high auto loan delinquencies paint a worrying picture of American consumers under increasing financial strain. But how much of that picture reflects a genuine increase in distress — and how much reflects how we measure it?
Working Paper
Temporal Focal Points and Economic Outcomes: Evidence from U.S. Mortgage Lending
WP 26-18 – Temporal focal points shape high-stakes economic outcomes. We investigate this proposition in the U.S. mortgage market by documenting novel within-month patterns in lending.
Working Paper
Building Credit Histories
WP 26-17 – If a credit history is necessary to get credit, and credit is needed to build a credit history, where does this leave new borrowers? This paper explores how lenders may look beyond repayment history to give new borrowers access to credit.
Report
LIFE Survey Report – January 2026
This report is part of a quarterly series on key observations from the Labor, Income, Finances, and Expectations (LIFE) Survey. Data from the survey provide insight into consumers’ recent financial lives and their future expectations.
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Lender File
31 Jul ’25
The HMDA Lender File includes characteristics of firms receiving mortgage applications and originating loans. The data set enables users to connect HMDA filers to their parent organizations and compare a filer’s lending over time.
Working Paper
Does Experience Matter? Past Fraud Exposure, Data Compromises, and Credit Market Behavior
WP 26-10 – We study how past experiences with fraud affect individuals’ likelihood of taking precautionary action in credit markets when faced with a new shock that raises their fraud risks.