Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for June, 2019

Prime Credit Consumers Turn to Used Vehicles

As prices for new vehicles continue to hit record highs, U.S. consumers with great credit are choosing to buy used cars more often. According to data from credit agency Experian, during the first quarter of 2019, 61.8% of borrowers with prime credit and 44.7% of those with super prime credit scores took out loans for […]

Wealthiest Cities Have Highest Percentage of $10,000+ Credit Card Debt

A new report from LendingTree’s CompareCards found that cardholders are most likely to have to have five-figure credit card balances if they live in the richest and largest U.S. cities. In fact one in six borrowers in the biggest cities have credit card debt of $10,000 or more. Bridgeport, Conn. topped the list of residents […]

Mortgage Rates Halt Decline in Latest Week

As investor fears about international trade lessened, long-term U.S. mortgage interest rates held steady in the latest week after falling for the previous six, according to Freddie Mac. The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage (FRM) was 3.82%, with an average 0.6 point during the week ended June 13, 2019, unchanged from the […]

PayPal Reaches $10 Billion in Small Business Lending

PayPal announced that it has now made more than $10 billion in small business loans, an intriguing accomplishment considering its traditional reputation for payments rather than loans. Those loans were made to 225,000 small business owners around the world. PayPal has a presence in Australia, Germany and the UK. It also operated in Mexico in […]