Credit cards

Credit card balances declined most sharply as consumers cut back their spending due to the coronavirus pandemic and associated shutdown orders, the New York Fed said Thursday. But delinquencies also fell across all debt categories, thanks to government and lender relief efforts.

The pandemic has had a tremendous impact on the global and US economies, household incomes, and consumer spending. The world's most valuable financial services firm is ready to share insight around the global and US effects of COVID-19.

The outbreak has completely upended whatever expectations the industry had heading into 2020. Here's key areas that have been shaped by the pandemic, some potentially forever.

Mastercard has agreed to acquire Finicity for a reported price of $825 million, a move the card brand says will strengthen its open banking platform and expand financial services through more real-time access to data.

The agency has freed companies from reporting requirements and provided flexibility on exams to help them deal with COVID-19 fallout. It has also finished other regulatory relief efforts that were in the pipeline before the pandemic hit.

A surge in demand for home loans drove the increase, but the second quarter could see a slowdown in borrowing and more delinquencies as consumers contend with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Credit inquiries for auto lending, revolving credit cards and mortgages fell sharply in March as unemployment surged, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report.

Five Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee sent a letter to Director Kathy Kraninger calling the agency's response to COVID-19 “tepid and ineffectual at best.”

The agency has relaxed some reporting requirements and joined other regulators in encouraging banks to help borrowers, but pressure is building on the bureau to do more to aid consumers suffering financial hardship.

The reprieve from mortgage data collection was among several changes to the agency’s supervisory and enforcement procedures to help firms responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.