- Overall Credit Delinquencies Stable as Consumers Continue to Stay Current on Credit Obligations
- Overall Credit Utilization Decreases as Consumers Effectively Manage Credit Lines
SAN FRANCISCO — September 24, 2026 — Consumers in August 2026 continued their trend of resilience despite elevated interest rates and ongoing affordability pressures, according to the latest edition of CreditGauge™ from VantageScore. Delinquent credit payments remained stable among most credit products. The average VantageScore 4.0 credit score remained at 701, within the two-point range of the past 12 months, indicating continued strong consumer credit quality.
Consumer credit remains broadly resilient,” said Atif Mirza, EVP and Chief Digital and Insights Officer at VantageScore. “Lenders continue to increase the number of credit card accounts as consumers demonstrate continued demand for new credit lines.
Watch CreditGauge LIVE for additional key insights from the August 2026 edition of CreditGauge that include:
NEW CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTS INCREASE AS LENDERS TAP CONSUMER CREDIT DEMAND: Year-over-year, credit card originations increased 0.07%, from 3.70% in August 2025 to 3.77% in August 2026. Credit card originations also showed the strongest month-over-month gains, increasing by 0.11% from July 2026. Resilient consumer credit quality has allowed lenders to increase credit card accounts and meet demand for new credit lines.
OVERALL CREDIT DELINQUENCIES STABLE AS CONSUMERS CONTINUE TO STAY CURRENT ON CREDIT OBLIGATIONS: Overall delinquencies remained stable year-over-year in August 2026. Early-stage, or 30-59 Days Past Due (DPD), delinquencies were unchanged from August 2025 at 1.02%, while mid-stage (60-89 DPD) delinquencies improved slightly from 0.40% to 0.38% and late-stage (90-119 DPD) delinquencies remained unchanged at 0.22%. The year-over-year stability suggests consumer credit performance remains resilient, with no broad-based deterioration in payment performance.
OVERALL CREDIT UTILIZATION DECREASES AS CONSUMERS EFFECTIVELY MANAGE CREDIT LINES: In August 2026, average consumer balances rose to $107.5K, up approximately $896 from July 2026 and $1,176, or 1.1% from August 2025. Despite higher balances, the overall credit utilization, or balance-to-loan ratio, declined to 49.60%, 1.2% below 50.80% in August 2025. This indicates that consumers continue to pay down debt relative to original loan amounts even as outstanding loan sizes increase.
Follow VantageScore on LinkedIn and YouTube to watch CreditGauge LIVE, a monthly video series featuring our latest insights on consumer credit data and analysis.
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.
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 nine of the top 10 U.S. banks, use VantageScore credit scores and digital tools to provide consumer credit products or generate greater insights into consumer behavior. The VantageScore 4.0 credit scoring model scores 33 million more people than traditional models. With the FHFA allowing the immediate 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.
