FICO reports announced that the average credit score in the United States dipped for the first time in a decade, indicating Americans may be struggling with financial distress as they endeavor to make timely credit payments and bolster their savings. Ethan Dornhelm, FICO’s VP of scores and predictive analytics, identified a lack of savings buffer in households as one likely culprit for the lower credit scores. As the COVID-19 pandemic subsided and consumer spending increased, data showed a drawn-down of savings among American households.
The national average FICO Score, the commonly used yardstick for creditworthiness, logged at 718 from April to July 2023. By October, the average slipped to 717, indicating the possible impact of inflation and high interest rates on consumers’ finances. FICO says their data shows missing payments and climbing consumer debt levels are having a considerable impact on decreasing credit scores.
Dornhelm noted that pandemic-era financial relief programs such as stimulus checks and other government aid, which significantly bolstered consumers’ credit managing ability, are a thing of the past, leaving Americans to manage their credit responsibilities independently.
Additionally, a separate study by Assurance IQ revealed that many Americans, including those earning $75,000 or more annually, had to strategize new ways to cope with expenses last year, with borrowing and resorting to credit cards being the most common financing alternative. Predictably, reliance on lines of credit and payment plans was tougher on households earning less than $75,000 annually, with nearly half acknowledging they had to borrow funding to meet their 2023 expenses.
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