Credit defaults increase in March for fourth consecutive month

The S&P Dow Jones and Experian consumer credit default indices showed a fourth straight increase in the composite rate last month, increasing two basis points to 0.48%.

The bank card default rate saw the largest increase of 12 basis points, up to 2.27% from February’s figure of 2.15%, according to the latest figures.

The auto loan default rate rose by four basis points to 0.56%, while the first mortgage rate was only one basis point higher at 0.35%.

The composite rate has been increasing steadily from 0.46% in February, 0.43% in January and 0.40% in December of last year.

Meanwhile, four of the five major metropolitan statistical areas reported higher default rates since last month.

New York saw the largest increase, up 16 basis points from February’s figure, to 0.80%. While, Chicago’s default rate was 0.52% up from 0.49%, Dallas’ 0.56% up from 0.55% and Los Angeles’ 0.39%, compared to 0.35% the previous month.

Only Miami showed a lower default rate at 0.76%, down from February’s figure of 0.95%.

Despite increasing credit defaults, Bank of America surprised analysts recently, displaying better results than its rival JP Morgan Chase due to the credit quality of its customers, as it reported close to record low loan losses.

JP Morgan Chase, on the other hand, took close to $1.5 billion of provision for credit losses.

However, Bank of America’s institutional side did not exceed its expected performance.