Charge-Off Rate on Credit Card Loans

The source changed how it measures this in Q1 2001. Readings before the March 2001 Call Report are partly estimated by the Federal Reserve rather than reported in full detail. Smaller banks filed the FFIEC 033 and 034 forms and could report charged-off and delinquent loans under their own loan classifications instead of the regulatory ones, so the Federal Reserve adjusted and allocated those amounts to the published loan categories using estimated ratios that differed by loan category. The Board states that from the March 2001 Call Report the detail reported by all banks eliminated the need for those procedures. In February 2017 it updated the models used to estimate data not reported by small banks that filed the FFIEC 034 form and revised the pre-2001 rates for several series, so values on that side of the boundary have already moved once without any new bank report. Figures on either side are not directly comparable, so the change column stays blank where a comparison would cross that date. Source documentation.

The source changed how it measures this in Q1 2010. From the first quarter of 2010, credit card rates cover loans that banks had securitized and previously kept off their balance sheets. Accounting standards FAS 166 and 167 required banks to bring those loans back on, and the Board states the change is reflected in the 2010-Q1 Call Reports; one large credit card bank made the move in the fourth quarter of 2009. The Board's H.8 notes put the credit card and other revolving loans consolidated by domestically chartered commercial banks at about $335 billion as of March 31, 2010. Rates from 2010 on are measured over a different pool of loans than earlier readings. Figures on either side are not directly comparable, so the change column stays blank where a comparison would cross that date. Source documentation.