Tim Chen on the state of the consumer: "feels like a tale of two cities"

The state of the consumer feels like a tale of two cities.  We're seeing continued strength relative to historical norms in the prime and super-prime segments and definitely some credit deterioration in the near-prime and subprime space.  Credit card balances increased by $61 billion to reach $986 billion, surpassing the pre-pandemic high of $927 billion; mortgage balances rose to $11.92 trillion, auto loan balances to $1.55 trillion, and student loan balances to $1.60 trillion," The New York Federal Reserve Bank stated in its quarterly report on household debt and credit. "

~ Tim Chen, NerdWallet CEO, "NerdWallet CEO: US consumer health 'feels like a tale of two cities'," Yahoo Finance Live, February 17, 2023

("Credit card balances increased by $61 billion to reach $986 billion, surpassing the pre-pandemic high of $927 billion; mortgage balances rose to $11.92 trillion, auto loan balances to $1.55 trillion, and student loan balances to $1.60 trillion," The New York Federal Reserve Bank stated in its quarterly report on household debt and credit.)

American Express CFO on credit stress among prime customers

These are not people who are used to being in stress.

~ Jeffrey Campbell, American Express CFO, "Do You Really Have That Credit?," Bloomberg Businessweek, May 11, 2020

(At American Express Co., about 845,000 accounts have enrolled in the company's forbearance programs.  Almost 90% of those customers had credit scores that would be considered prime or superprime.)