Research on consumer financial markets

Published JUN 21, 2023

Consumer Finances in Rural Areas of the Southern Region

This report provides a broad look at consumer financial profiles in eight states in the southern region of the U.S., including credit scores, financial distress, medical collections, and other debt categories.

• • Access to credit
• • Credit reports and scores
• • Office of Research Publication

Published APR 26, 2023

Consumer Credit and the Removal of Medical Collections from Credit Reports

We study removals of medical collections from credit reports that occurred between 2012-2020 and find associated increases in credit score and credit availability.

• • Access to credit
• • Credit reports and scores
• • Data
• • Medical debt
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published SEP 01, 2022

Consumer Finances in Rural Appalachia

This report focuses on the consumer finances of rural Appalachians, and is the first in a series of reports focusing on the finances of rural consumers.

• • Access to credit
• • Auto loans
• • Credit cards
• • Credit reports and scores
• • Medical debt
• • Mortgages
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Student loans

Published JUL 28, 2022

Understanding Required Financial Assistance in Medical Care

Charity care is one of the main forms of assistance hospitals offer to low-income consumers to help cover the cost of medical treatment.

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Debt collection
• • Medical debt
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published JUL 27, 2022

Consumer Credit Trends Report: Paid and Low-Balance Medical Collections on Consumer Credit Reports

This is part of a series of reports of consumer credit trends produced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau using a longitudinal sample of approximately five million de-identified credit records from one of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies.

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Debt collection
• • Medical debt
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published NOV 02, 2021

Disputes on Consumer Credit Reports

This Consumer Credit Trends report describes patterns in dispute flags that appear on consumers’ credit reports.

By Office of Research

• • Auto loans
• • Credit cards
• • Credit reports and scores
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research
• • Student loans

Published SEP 17, 2021

Financial conditions for renters before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

A new analysis investigating the financial conditions of renters and homeowners before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Office of Research

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Disasters and emergencies
• • Financial well-being
• • Making Ends Meet
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research
• • Students

Published JUN 30, 2021

Commercial Credit on Consumer Credit Reports

This report explores the trends of commercial credit reporting on consumer credit.

By Office of Research

• • Business loans
• • Credit reports and scores
• • Data
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published APR 30, 2021

Changes in consumer financial status during the early months of the pandemic

A new analysis examines the early impact of COVID-19 on consumers’ finances, finding that, in general, they were more able to stay on top of finances in June 2020 than June 2019.

By Office of Research

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Data
• • Financial well-being
• • Making Ends Meet
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published NOV 12, 2020

Quarterly Consumer Credit Trends: Payment Amount Furnishing & Consumer Reporting

This report explores the prevalence of actual payment information in consumer credit reporting.

By Office of Research

• • Access to credit
• • Credit cards
• • Credit reports and scores
• • Fair Credit Reporting Act
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published MAY 01, 2020

The early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on credit applications

This report uses the Bureau’s Consumer Credit Panel to study the early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on credit applications overall, by credit score group, and across the states.

By Office of Research

• • Access to credit
• • Auto loans
• • Credit cards
• • Credit reports and scores
• • Disasters and emergencies
• • Mortgages
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published DEC 10, 2019

Quarterly Consumer Credit Trends: Public records, credit scores, and credit performance

Quarterly consumer credit trends reports focus on a specific consumer financial product or issue using a longitudinal, nationally representative sample of de-identified credit records maintained by a nationwide consumer reporting agency.

By Office of Research

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Data
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published MAY 30, 2019

Quarterly Consumer Credit Trends: Timing of Applications for Consumer Credit

Quarterly consumer credit trends reports focus on a specific consumer financial product or issue using a longitudinal, nationally-representative sample of de-identified credit records maintained by a nationwide credit reporting company.

By Office of Research

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Data
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published MAR 01, 2019

Quarterly Consumer Credit Trends: Mortgages to First-time Homebuying Servicemembers

Quarterly consumer credit trends reports focus on a specific consumer financial product or issue using a longitudinal, nationally-representative sample of de-identified credit records maintained by a nationwide credit reporting company.

By Office of Research

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Data
• • Mortgages
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research
• • Servicemembers

Published NOV 21, 2018

Quarterly Consumer Credit Trends: Natural Disasters and Credit Reporting

Recent natural disasters, such as Hurricane Harvey in 2017, have significantly impacted some consumers financially. In this report, the Bureau examines how natural disasters are reported in consumers’ credit reports.

By Office of Research

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Data
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published AUG 22, 2018

Quarterly consumer credit trends: Telecommunications debt collection

Consumers typically pay for telecommunications services monthly, but most providers do not report to consumer reporting agencies unless an account is in collections. In this report, we explore how these debts are reported.

By Office of Research

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Data
• • Debt collection
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published FEB 22, 2018

Quarterly consumer credit trends: Public records

Quarterly consumer credit trends reports focus on a specific consumer financial product or issue using a longitudinal, nationally-representative sample of de-identified credit records maintained by a nationwide credit reporting company.

By Office of Research

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Data
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published JUN 07, 2017

CFPB data point: Becoming credit visible

Our data point reports are prepared by our Office of Research to provide an evidence-based perspective on consumer financial markets, consumer behavior, and regulations to inform the public discourse.

By Office of Research

• • Access to credit
• • Credit reports and scores
• • Data
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published MAY 05, 2015

Data point: Credit invisibles

Our data point reports are prepared by our Office of Research to provide an evidence-based perspective on consumer financial markets, consumer behavior, and...

By Office of Research

• • Access to credit
• • Credit reports and scores
• • Data
• • Office of Research Publication
• • Research

Published JUL 03, 2014

Report on the use of remittance histories in credit scoring

The Dodd-Frank Act directed us to study the potential for remittance information to enhance consumer credit scores.

By Office of Research

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Money transfers
• • Office of Research Publication

Published MAY 20, 2014

Data point: Medical debt and credit scores

Our data point reports are prepared by our Office of Research to provide an evidence-based perspective on consumer financial markets, consumer behavior, and...

By Office of Research

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Debt collection
• • Medical debt
• • Office of Research Publication

Published OCT 09, 2012

Analysis of Differences between Consumer- and Creditor-Purchased Credit Scores

When consumers purchase their credit scores from one of the major nationwide consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), they often receive scores that are not...

By Office of Research

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Office of Research Publication

Published JUL 19, 2011

The impact of differences between consumer- and creditor-purchased credit scores

A credit score is a numerical summary of a consumer's apparent creditworthiness, based on the consumer's credit report, and reflects the relative likelihood...

By Office of Research

• • Credit reports and scores
• • Office of Research Publication