Consumer resilience is holding in August: early-stage delinquencies unchanged year-over-year, balances growing but leverage declining, and credit card originations posting their largest month-over-month increase of any product.

In this episode, Scott Norman, CEO of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association and 30-year mortgage industry veteran, shares what he's hearing from lenders on the ground and why the affordability conversation has shifted away from rates.

In the full episode, Scott covers:
▶ Why the number one question lenders get isn't about interest rates, but taxes and insurance
▶ How rising costs have put some borrowers in homes they qualified for five years ago but would struggle to stay in today
▶ What lenders are asking about credit score competition

Plus, VantageScore's Atif Mirza breaks down the latest CreditGauge™ data for August 2026, including early-stage delinquencies holding steady at 1.02%, balances rising while utilization declines, and credit card originations leading growth heading into Q4.

Updated monthly, VantageScore’s CreditGauge LIVE features the latest newsmakers and insights into consumer credit health.

Download the full CreditGauge analysis for free at vantagescore.com/lenders/credit-gauge.

VantageScore 4.0 scores 33 million consumers that legacy credit scoring models ignore. In this episode, Dr. Andrada Pacheco, EVP and Chief Data Scientist at VantageScore, breaks down who those consumers are, why they are not a riskier population, and what lenders need to do to reach them.

In the full episode, Andrada covers:
▶ Why VantageScore 4.0 uses 400% more data per score than legacy models
▶ Who the 24 million dormant consumers are and why lenders are lining up to reach them
▶ How cash flow data in VantageScore 4plus gives lenders both sides of a consumer's financial picture

Plus, VantageScore's Atif Mirza breaks down the latest CreditGauge™ data for July 2026, including early-stage delinquencies improving, credit card utilization decreasing, and personal loan originations increasing.

Updated monthly, VantageScore’s CreditGauge LIVE features the latest newsmakers and insights into consumer credit health.

Download the full CreditGauge analysis for free at vantagescore.com/lenders/credit-gauge.

Consumer credit looks resilient on the surface. But beneath the surface, a divided economy is taking shape, and where you sit in it largely depends on whether you own a home.

In this episode, Dr. Selma Hepp, Chief Economist at Cotality, shares her outlook on consumer credit conditions and what the data says about where resilience is real and where it's running thin.

In the full episode, Selma covers:

➡️ Why higher and lower income households are experiencing fundamentally different economies right now

➡️ How $35 trillion in homeowner equity is cushioning consumers against affordability pressures across gas, insurance, and property taxes

➡️ The three indicators she's watching most closely in the second half of 2026: labor market conditions, FHA delinquencies, and market liquidity

Plus, VantageScore's Atif Mirza breaks down the latest CreditGauge™ data for June 2026, including the average VantageScore rising to 702, credit card delinquencies improving across all stages, and overall utilization declining to 49.61%.

Updated monthly, VantageScore’s CreditGauge LIVE features the latest newsmakers and insights into consumer credit health.

Download the full CreditGauge analysis for free at vantagescore.com/lenders/credit-gauge.