Individuals who have applied for credit reported higher approval rates in 2019 than in 2018, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Credit Access Survey released today. The survey gauges consumers’ experiences and expectations regarding credit over the previous year.
The results show that rejection rates fell from 9.1% of all those who applied for credit in 2018 to 8% in 2019. Rejection rates for mortgages, mortgage refinance applications and credit cards were all down from 2018. The rejection rate for auto loans, however, increased steadily over the past 12 months, rising from 4.5% in October 2018 to 8.1% in October 2019.
The share of applicants who were too discouraged to apply for credit in the past 12 months was 6.4%, up a hair from last year when the average was 6.3%. The share of survey respondents who applied for credit in the past 12 months were also slightly higher in 2019, coming in at 45.8% compared to 45.5% a year prior. Meanwhile, the share of respondents who said they are likely to apply for credit in the next 12 months also rose from 25.6% in 2018 to 26.8% in 2019.