Consumer Borrowing Grew 4.2% in July. Card Balances Grew at Little More Than Half That Pace.

The Federal Reserve released its July consumer credit report, the G.19, at 3 p.m. Eastern on September 8, 2026. Its opening line: in July, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.2 percent, with revolving credit up at an annual rate of 2.5 percent and nonrevolving credit up at 4.8 percent.

A 4.2% annual rate on a base of roughly $5.17 trillion works out to an increase of about $18 billion in the month. Forecasters had been looking for something in the region of $12 billion to $16 billion, so the headline came in above expectations.

The Month Reversed the Pattern of the Quarter

For the first half of the year, credit cards were the faster-growing side of the ledger. In the first quarter total credit grew at 2.6%, with revolving at 4.2% and nonrevolving at 2.0%. In the second quarter the total was 2.9%, revolving 4.9%, nonrevolving 2.2%. June was the sharpest version of that: 3.4% overall, revolving 6.0%, nonrevolving 2.5%.

July inverted it. Revolving credit slowed to 2.5% while nonrevolving accelerated to 4.8%. Nonrevolving is the larger category by a wide margin — $3,829.0 billion against $1,357.2 billion — and it is mostly vehicle loans and student loans, which are contracted for a fixed amount rather than drawn down at a cardholder's discretion. A month in which the bigger, slower category speeds up and the smaller, faster one cools is a different month from June, even though both produced a positive headline.

The Two Credit Card Rates

The G.19's terms-of-credit table reports two credit card interest rates, and they are not interchangeable. "All accounts" averages across every card account, including those that are paid in full each month and are charged nothing. "Accounts assessed interest" covers only accounts that actually carried a balance and were charged. The second is the rate a borrower revolving a balance is closer to paying.

• First quarter 2026: all accounts 21.00%, accounts assessed interest 21.52%.
• Second quarter 2026: all accounts 20.94%, accounts assessed interest 22.15%.

The averaged-across-everything number went down slightly. The number that applies to people carrying a balance went up by more than half a point. The gap between the two widened from 52 basis points to 121.

What the Table Shows on Car Loans

• New car loans at commercial banks: 7.14% over 60 months, 6.97% over 72 months.
• Twenty-four-month personal loans at commercial banks: 11.86%.
• Finance company new car loans: 6.3%, at an average maturity of 67 months and an average amount financed of $41,705.

The finance company series is worth reading alongside the bank series rather than instead of it. A lower headline rate stretched over a longer average term is not automatically a cheaper loan in total interest, and the two series cover different lenders and different borrowers.