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According to Experian’s latest State of the Automotive Finance Market report, a record 84.5% of consumers who acquired a new vehicle in Q2 2013 used either a loan or a lease to fund the purchase - up from 82.5% in Q2 2012. Leases accounted for an all-time high of 27.6% of new vehicles financed during the second quarter, up from 24.4% in Q2 2012.

After reaching post-recession lows in June, the July S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices showed that default rates increased slightly in several categories. While the national composite,* first mortgage and auto loan default rates all increased, the bankcard default rate continued to decline and hit a new low of 3.22%.

Small-business credit conditions strengthened in Q2 2013, lifting the Experian/Moody's Analytics Small Business Credit Index 2.8 points to 111.7 - the highest level since it began tracking. Consumer spending growth was modest, but steady and consumer confidence is at multiyear highs. This is a reassuring signal that consumer spending is unlikely to backtrack in the near future. Furthermore, credit quality improved for every business size, with the total share of delinquent dollars 2.4 percentage points lower than a year ago and at the lowest point on record.

According to a recent survey by freecreditscore.com™, women find financial responsibility more attractive in assessing a romantic partner (96 percent) than physical attractiveness (87 percent) or career ambition (87 percent). Men slightly favor good looks over financial responsibility (92 percent versus 91 percent); however, 20 percent of men surveyed would not marry someone with a poor credit score.

According to the Q2 2013 Experian Automotive State of the Automotive Finance Market report, vehicle repossessions reached their lowest rate in seven years, with only 0.36 percent of all vehicle loans reaching repossession. This change is a drop of 14.8 percent over the previous quarter and a 10.4 percent decrease from the previous low of 0.41 percent in Q2 2006.

The $478 billion in Q2 2013 mortgage originations is a 10 percent increase over a year ago ($436 billion) but a 7 percent decrease from the previous quarter ($515 billion) — primarily as a result of the slowdown in refinancing activity.

The average bankcard balance per consumer in Q2 2013 was $3,831, a 1.3 percent decline from the previous year. Consumers in the VantageScore® near prime and subprime credit tiers carried the largest average bankcard balances at $5,883 and $5,903 respectively. The super prime tier carried the smallest average balance at $1,881.

The June release of the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices showed default rates continued to fall across all categories. The national composite* and the first mortgage default rate both hit new post-recession lows (1.34 percent and 1.23 percent, respectively). The table below summarizes the June 2013 results for the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices.

Using data from IntelliViewSM, Credit.com recently compiled a list of states with the highest average bankcard utilization rates. Alaska took first place, with an average utilization ratio of 27.73 percent. This should come as no surprise since Alaska has recently topped lists for highest credit card balances and highest revolving debt.

A recent survey of government benefit agencies shows an increased need for fraud detection technology to prevent eligibility fraud. Only 26 percent of respondents currently use fraud detection technology, and 57 percent cite false income reporting as the leading cause of fraud. Insufficient resources and difficulty integrating multiple data sources were the greatest challenges in preventing eligibility fraud.

Small-business credit conditions improved in Q1 2013, reversing much of the deterioration seen during Q4 2012. The Q1 rise was fueled primarily by falling delinquency rates in every segment compared with a year earlier. The total share of delinquent dollars was 11.2 percent for Q1 2013 - 1.4 percentage points lower than a year ago.

A recent Experian credit trends analysis of new mortgages and bankcards from Q1 2013 shows a 16 percent year-over-year increase in mortgage origination volume and a 20 percent increase in bankcard limits. Providing further evidence of continued economic recovery throughout the nation, mortgage delinquency rates reached multi-year lows and bankcard delinquency rates reached near-record lows.

Despite the improving real-estate market, financial institutions are concerned about lending to consumers who have pursued strategic defaults. In a recent VantageScore Solutions survey, 85 percent of respondents believe that consumers who have pursued strategic defaults pose increased risk, even if they meet the institution’s other lending criteria. More than half of those surveyed said they are not likely to approve strategic defaulters for a mortgage loan in the next 12 months. Source: The Score: Short sales and foreclosures make lenders wary VantageScore® is a registered trademark of VantageScore Solutions, LLC.

A recent study comparing financial differences between men and women found that, overall, women are better at managing money and debt. Differences between the two populations include:

Financial institutions are revisiting their policies and thresholds for lending to small businesses and are slowly loosening restrictions. In a recent survey by the Federal Reserve Board, 9.2 percent of senior loan officers said they have "somewhat" eased their standards for lending to small firms and provided commercial borrowers more leeway, in the form of slightly bigger credit lines and longer maturity terms.