- Credit Card Balances Remain Flat as Consumers Show Credit Discipline
- Banks Tighten Lending Criteria, Pivot to More Cautious Posture
- Credit Delinquencies Stable Across All Credit Products Compared to February 2025
SAN FRANCISCO, April 30, 2025 -- Consumers demonstrated a disciplined and resilient use of credit despite significant financial market volatility, according to the March 2025 edition of CreditGauge™ from VantageScore. The average VantageScore credit score increased by one point to 702 from February 2025, while overall consumer credit balances remained largely stable. New credit originations for Credit Cards and Personal Loans slowed month-over-month as banks appeared to tighten their lending criteria in a pivot to a more cautious lending posture.
"The latest CreditGauge insights show an emerging dichotomy between stable Main Street consumer behavior and the intense volatility on Wall Street," said Susan Fahy, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at VantageScore. "Consumers are slowly moderating their borrowing and focusing on bringing their accounts up to date as banks tighten new lending in March."
Key insights for the March 2025 edition of CreditGauge include:
STABLE CREDIT BALANCES SHOW CONSUMER CREDIT DISCIPLINE: Overall credit balances in March were essentially flat month-over-month, despite ongoing inflation. Credit Card balances declined by just $95 to $6,200 from February 2025 and held steady year-over-year from March 2024. Consumer credit utilization ratios declined for all credit products in that time period, demonstrating that borrowers are paying down their balances more effectively. This indicates that consumers are stable despite sources of economic volatility around them.
AVERAGE VANTAGESCORE CREDIT SCORE AT 702: The average VantageScore credit score increased to 702 in March 2025 after a brief drop to 701 the previous month. Overall credit delinquencies in March 2025 declined month-over-month across all Days Past Due (DPD) categories for the first time since April 2024. Additionally, consumer credit utilization ratios declined for all credit products in March 2025, suggesting that borrowers are paying down their balances more effectively. Consumers are increasingly maintaining credit-healthy financial practices, contributing to an increased average VantageScore score.
CREDIT ORIGINATIONS DECLINED: New credit origination momentum slowed in March 2025 as Credit Card and Personal Loan originations continued to decline from the month prior. Banks and lenders adopted a more cautious posture to new loans.
CreditGauge is a monthly analysis highlighting the overall health of U.S. consumer credit. To download this month's full CreditGauge report, visit the VantageScore website.
Follow VantageScore on LinkedIn and YouTube to watch CreditGauge LIVE, a monthly video series featuring our latest insights on consumer credit data and analysis.
About VantageScore CreditGauge™
CreditGauge is provided both as a monthly analysis to industry stakeholders as well as through a series of interactive tools at VantageScore.com, which also includes Inclusion360®, RiskRatio™ and MarketGain™. Stakeholders can use the tools to execute additional queries on credit metrics and compare current levels to a pre-pandemic timeframe, starting with January 2020. CreditGauge solely represents the views and analysis of VantageScore and does not necessarily reflect or represent the views of the Nationwide Consumer Reporting Agencies (NCRAs) – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
About VantageScore®
VantageScore is the fastest-growing credit scoring company in the U.S., and is known for the industry's most innovative, predictive and inclusive credit score models. In 2024, usage of VantageScore increased by 55% to hit 42 billion credit scores. More than 3,700 institutions, including 8 of the top 10 banks, use VantageScore credit scores to provide consumer credit products including credit cards, auto loans, personal loans and mortgages. The VantageScore 4.0 credit scoring model scores 33 million more people than traditional models, With the FHFA mandating the use of VantageScore 4.0 for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guaranteed mortgages, the company is also ushering in a new era for mortgage lending and helping to close the homeownership gap.
VantageScore is an independently managed joint venture company and owners include the three Nationwide Consumer Reporting Agencies (NCRAs) – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
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