Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for April, 2019

Car Loan, Credit Card Delinquencies Reach New Peaks

U.S. consumers are falling behind on their credit card bills and car loans at higher rates than have been seen in almost a decade, according to data from the American Bankers Association, but that may be more of a return to historical norms rather than a sign of economic doom. After falling in 2017, in […]

Home Purchase Requests Jump to 9-Year Record High

Even as interest rates continued to climb, the number of applications for home purchases rose to the highest level since April 2010, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Total mortgage application volume decreased 3.5% during the week ended April 17, 2019, but was up 14% from the previous year. Home purchase requests rose 1% in […]

Big Banks Approve Small Business Loans in Record Numbers

March was a good month for getting a small business loan approved, according to data from Biz2Credit. The number of applications approved by big U.S. banks rose one-tenth of a percent to 27.3%, the highest percentage on record. “Approvals by big banks continue to climb,” said Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora. “With strong financials from 2018, […]

Americans Paid $113 Billion in Credit Card Interest

Americans are now paying almost double the amount of credit card interest as they did just five years ago. According to a study from MagnifyMoney, U.S. borrowers’ credit card interest totaled $113 billion in 2018, a 12% increase from the year before. It is predicted that consumers will pay as much as $122 billion in […]