The Federal Reserve’s latest Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, released last week, included a special set of questions for banks to describe changes they’ve made in the past year to subprime auto loan terms. Previous surveys have asked broader questions about consumer lending.
The Fed’s findings: 19 of the 76 banks queried — 25% — are involved in the subprime auto sector. Specifically, most respondents noted that loan rate spreads, minimum required down payments, and credit scores remained unchanged relative to a year ago. In addition, most of those banks anticipated that their lending policies would stay about the same for the next 12 months. The survey tracks changes in the standards and terms on bank loans to businesses and households.
