US Bancorp said its earnings report today that auto loan growth continued to offset declines in student lending loan balances.
Retail auto loans grew to $14.1 billion, up from $13.8 billion in the first quarter of 2014.
The bank’s overall auto portfolio grew to $14.3 billion, up from $13.9 billion last quarter, and $12.8 billion the same time last year.
The bank said it saw growth in high-quality auto loan originations on the indirect side, as evidenced by weighted average FICO scores that stood at 763. That’s relatively the same as last year’s Q2 when indirect FICO scores were 767. The bank also said strong used auto values continued to contribute to historically low net charge-offs.
During the company earnings call Wednesday, Vice Chair and Chief Risk Officer Bill Parker told listeners that the bank had done some controlled expansion on its indirect auto portfolio. He said that effort had gone well.
“We’ve had strong originations in that space, but it’s all very high credit quality,” he said.
