---
title: "Senior Loan Officer Survey: Banks Tightening Standards"
slug: senior-loan-officer-survey-banks-tightening-standards
summary: "Net share of banks tightening credit card standards: 4% in Q4 2026, close to the 4.2% of a year earlier"
category: "Warning Signs"
unit: percent
frequency: quarterly
direction: higher_is_worse
latest_value: 4.0
latest_period: "2026-Q4"
trend: stable
last_updated: "2026-11-02T00:00:00Z"
source: "Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey data retrieved via FRED"
source_url: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DRTSCLCC
canonical_html: https://americandefault.org/indicators/senior-loan-officer-survey-banks-tightening-standards/
citation_apa: "Kilburn, R. (2026). Senior Loan Officer Survey: Banks Tightening Standards [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/senior-loan-officer-survey-banks-tightening-standards/"
citation_chicago: "Kilburn, Ross. 2026. \"Senior Loan Officer Survey: Banks Tightening Standards.\" American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/senior-loan-officer-survey-banks-tightening-standards/."
citation_mla: "Kilburn, Ross. \"Senior Loan Officer Survey: Banks Tightening Standards.\" American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/senior-loan-officer-survey-banks-tightening-standards/."
---

# Senior Loan Officer Survey: Banks Tightening Standards

> Net share of banks tightening credit card standards: 4% in Q4 2026, close to the 4.2% of a year earlier

## Current Reading

As of 2026-Q4, Senior Loan Officer Survey: Banks Tightening Standards is **4%** (stable).

net share of large banks tightening credit card approval standards

## What Changed

- In the Federal Reserve's Q4 2026 loan officer survey, the net share of banks tightening credit card standards was 4%, close to the 4.2% of a year earlier.
- On net, more banks tightened than eased.
- The previous survey, Q3 2026, read 6.7%; the series is not adjusted for seasonal patterns, so part of a quarter-to-quarter move can be seasonal.

## Recent Values

| Period | Value |
|--------|-------|
| 2026-Q4 | 4% |
| 2026-Q3 | 6.7% |
| 2026-Q2 | 2% |
| 2026-Q1 | 0% |
| 2025-Q4 | 4.2% |
| 2025-Q3 | 10.4% |
| 2025-Q2 | 5.6% |
| 2025-Q1 | 9.4% |
| 2024-Q4 | 18.4% |
| 2024-Q3 | 20% |
| 2024-Q2 | 21.2% |
| 2024-Q1 | 22.9% |

## Historical Context

- Peak since 1996: **71.7%** in Q3 2020
- Low since 1996: **-37.3%** in Q3 2021
- Pre-pandemic average (2015-01 – 2019-12): **2.33%**
- Post-pandemic average (2020-01 – 2024-12): **12.01%**

## Methodology

This indicator carries quarterly observations and is interpreted as higher values indicate worse household conditions. Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey data retrieved via FRED.
Automation: collected automatically on the daily refresh pipeline, with no hand entry.

## Source

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey data retrieved via FRED — [https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DRTSCLCC](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DRTSCLCC)

Data retrieved: 2026-11-02T00:00:00Z

## Related Indicators

- [the-late-fee](https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-late-fee/)

## Machine-Readable Endpoints

- HTML page: https://americandefault.org/indicators/senior-loan-officer-survey-banks-tightening-standards/
- JSON: https://americandefault.org/api/indicators/senior-loan-officer-survey-banks-tightening-standards.json
- CSV: https://americandefault.org/api/downloads/senior-loan-officer-survey-banks-tightening-standards.csv
- BibTeX: https://americandefault.org/citations/senior-loan-officer-survey-banks-tightening-standards.bib
- RIS: https://americandefault.org/citations/senior-loan-officer-survey-banks-tightening-standards.ris

## Citation

**APA 7th**

    Kilburn, R. (2026). Senior Loan Officer Survey: Banks Tightening Standards [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/senior-loan-officer-survey-banks-tightening-standards/

**Chicago (author-date)**

    Kilburn, Ross. 2026. "Senior Loan Officer Survey: Banks Tightening Standards." American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/senior-loan-officer-survey-banks-tightening-standards/.

**MLA 9th**

    Kilburn, Ross. "Senior Loan Officer Survey: Banks Tightening Standards." American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/senior-loan-officer-survey-banks-tightening-standards/.

Use **American Default Research** as the institutional name in source lists, bibliographies, and press citations. **American Default** is the brand and URL form. **American Distress Index (ADI)** is the product name for the national composite score.