CHICAGO— New data from TransUnion show lenders kept pressing growth across key consumer credit products at the start of 2026, with bankcard and unsecured personal loan originations hitting record highs even as delinquencies continued to creep higher in several categories.
In its Q1 2026 Credit Industry Insights Report, TransUnion said bankcard originations climbed 13% year-over-year to a record 21.9 million in Q4 2025, while unsecured personal loan originations jumped 21.7% to an all-time high 7.6 million. At the same time, borrower-level credit card delinquencies rose to 2.53% in Q1 2026, unsecured personal loan delinquencies increased to 3.98%, and mortgage delinquencies reached 1.57% in Q4 2025—the 16th straight quarter of annual increases in that category.
Q1 2026 Unsecured Personal Loan Trends
|
Personal Loan Metric |
Q1 2026 | Q1 2025 | Q1 2024 | Q1 2023 |
| Total Balances | $277 billion | $253 billion | $245 billion | $225 billion |
| Number of Unsecured Personal Loans |
32.6 million |
29.8 million |
28.1 million |
26.9 million |
| Number of Consumers with Unsecured Personal Loans |
26.4 million |
24.6 million |
23.5 million |
22.4 million |
| Borrower-Level Delinquency Rate (60+ DPD) |
3.98% |
3.49% |
3.75% |
3.91% |
| Average Debt Per Borrower | $11,768 | $11,631 | $11,829 | $11,281 |
| Average Account Balance | $8,493 | $8,496 | $8,737 | $8,356 |
| Prior Quarter Originations* | 7.6 million | 6.3 million | 5.0 million | 5.2 million |
Source: TransUnion U.S. Consumer Credit Database
TransUnion said the growth was being driven by activity at both ends of the credit spectrum, with subprime borrowers turning to credit cards and personal loans to manage cash-flow strain, while super-prime borrowers continued opening new cards, consolidating balances and financing larger purchases. Super-prime card issuance alone reached a record 5.5 million new accounts, while total bankcard balances rose 4.6% year-over-year to $1.12 trillion and outstanding unsecured personal loan balances hit a record $277 billion.
Mortgage lending also showed renewed momentum, with originations up 12.8% year-over-year to 1.39 million in Q4 2025, fueled largely by refinancing as rate-and-term refis surged 90% and cash-out refinances rose 28%. But TransUnion warned the broader picture remains uneven, with higher mortgage delinquencies—particularly among FHA borrowers—underscoring what it called a bifurcated credit environment that still requires close risk monitoring by lenders.
Q1 2026 Mortgage Trends
| Mortgage Lending Metric | Q1 2026 | Q1 2025 | Q1 2024 | Q1 2023 |
| Number of Mortgage Loans |
54.6 million |
54.3 million |
54.0 million |
52.9 million |
| Consumer-Level Delinquency Rate (60+ DPD) | 1.57% | 1.37% | 1.15% | 0.90% |
| Prior Quarter Originations* | 1.4 million | 1.2 million | 1.0 million | 1.0 million |
| Average Loan Amounts of New Mortgage Loans* |
$385,703 | $362,088 | $322,263 | $327,050 |
| Average Balance per Consumer | $270,387 | $264,590 | $258,330 | $253,514 |
| Total Balances of All Mortgage Loans |
$12.9 trillion |
$12.5 trillion |
$12.2 trillion |
$11.8 trillion |
Source: TransUnion U.S. Consumer Credit Database