Many consumers are still getting help with debt

At the end of December 2020, around 2.87% of accounts in the auto, credit card, mortgage or unsecured personal loan accounts were still in some form of financial hardship status.

But the percentage of accounts in that status continue to fall from a high of 4.77% in May 2020, according to TransUnion’s Financial Services Monthly Industry Snapshot Report.

TransUnion data includes all of the accounts with accommodations at the end of December plus those that had accommodations pre-pandemic.

The percentage of credit card accounts in financial hardship status fell from a high of 3.73% in May 2020 to 2.42% in December 2020. 

Repayment preferences vary

Among those consumers with loan accommodations, plans to repay the money were diverse, according to TransUnion.

The research showed that around 25% of them want to return to making regular payments and negotiate with lenders to increase the length of the loan, while 19% would like to continue the accommodation and 17% want to catch up by making bigger payments.

See related: Credit card spending rebounds from pandemic plunge

Delinquencies and hardship program situation surprisingly positive

Ted Rossman, industry analyst for CreditCards.com, said that in general, the outlook for delinquencies and hardship programs is surprisingly positive.

“Delinquencies have actually fallen during the pandemic and fewer customers than we initially expected have enrolled in hardship programs, plus many have already gotten back on track,” Rossman said.

For example, Chase reported that more than 90% of customers who exited their assistance program have remained current on their payments.

And, according to the ABA Banking Journal, “Bank card delinquencies fell 109 basis points to 1.52% of all accounts in the second quarter, declining to the lowest level on record. In the third quarter they were essentially flat.”

Rossman noted that government stimulus programs deserve a lot of credit, along with many consumers spending less and making debt payoff a priority.

“It seemed like the stimulus impact was starting to wane late in 2020, but Congress and the Trump Administration agreed on another round of stimulus right before New Year’s and the Biden Administration is intent on implementing an even larger program soon,” Rossman said.

Rossman said we’re not out of the woods yet, but there’s growing optimism that the worst has passed and we will not see nearly as many delinquencies and defaults as we did during the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

See related: What to do if your credit card is closed due to delinquency

Source: creditcards.com