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.

Consumer sentiment is down, but the credit data tells a different story. Delinquencies improved across all VantageScore credit tiers in May, and originations rebounded, led by personal loans, which hit a nine-month high.

In this episode, David Battany, EVP of Capital Markets at Guild Mortgage, shares how one of the nation's largest independent mortgage lenders is navigating affordability pressures and identifies the biggest opportunity to expand homeownership access.

In the full episode, David covers:

➡️ Why the mortgage affordability problem comes down to a math equation and how zero-down programs are helping lenders solve it

➡️ How the industry is absorbing trended credit data, including VantageScore 4.0, and what responsible adoption looks like in practice

➡️ Why thin-file borrowers represent the single biggest opportunity for homeownership expansion, and how residual income data could be the bridge

Plus, VantageScore's Atif Mirza breaks down the latest CreditGauge™ data for May 2026, including delinquencies improving across all credit tiers, personal loan originations reaching a nine-month high, and auto loans as the only product to decline year-over-year.

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.

Fair lending isn't just a compliance obligation; in the age of AI, it's a model quality issue.

In this episode, Kareem Saleh, Founder and CEO of FairPlay AI, explores why the best-performing lenders are optimizing for fairness, predictive accuracy, and explainability together, not as separate work streams.

In the full episode, Kareem covers:
➡️ Why fairness blind spots are model performance problems
➡️ What the VantageScore 4.0 mortgage shift means for lenders
➡️ His outlook for consumer credit over the next 6–12 months

Plus, VantageScore's Susan Fay and Atif Mirza break down the latest CreditGauge™ data for April 2026, including improving delinquency trends and strengthening mortgage originations.

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.

Debt service burdens are rising across multiple asset classes, and many lenders still aren't filling the data gaps that would help them see it coming.

In this episode, Matt Komos, Founder and CEO of OGMA Risk and Analytics, shares research on VantageScore 4.0's performance in mortgage pre-screening and where lenders are leaving risk management on the table.

In the full episode, Matt covers:
➡️ How VantageScore 4.0 expands first-time buyer access at the top of the mortgage funnel without increasing portfolio risk
➡️ Why trended credit data, cash flow data, and alternative credit are still underutilized even by lenders who say they're a priority
➡️ How geographic precision down to the county level can help lenders grow responsibly

Plus, VantageScore's Susan Fahy and Atif Mirza break down the latest CreditGauge™ data for March 2026, including credit card balances declining, mortgage delinquencies improving 8.1% year-over-year, and Gen Z and millennials driving unsecured lending growth.

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

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.

Hundreds of thousands of consumers want to buy homes but aren't quite mortgage-ready. Marcia Griffin has spent her career working with that 95%.

In this episode, Marcia Griffin, Founder and CEO of HomeFree-USA, shares what she's hearing from consumers on the ground and what lenders need to do differently to reach them.

In the full episode, Marcia covers:
➡️ Why getting consumers to simply look at their credit score is the critical first step
➡️ How HomeFree-USA works with first-time buyers, delinquent homeowners, and Gen Z renters who pay their bills but lack traditional credit history
➡️ What partnerships between lenders and nonprofits can unlock that neither can achieve alone

Plus, VantageScore's Susan Fahy and Atif Mirza break down the latest CreditGauge™ data for February 2026, including early-stage delinquencies hitting pre-pandemic levels at 1.15%, credit card originations up 53% year-over-year, and the average VantageScore rising to 701 despite continued migration into lower credit tiers.

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

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.

Early-stage delinquencies rose across all credit tiers in January, more consumers are migrating into subprime and near-prime, and mortgage originations are ticking up. For lenders, the question is how to capture the opportunity that VantageScore 4.0 is now unlocking.

In this episode, Tony Hutchinson, EVP and Head of Public Affairs at VantageScore and former executive at both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, breaks down exactly where lenders can use VantageScore 4.0 right now and what the cost savings look like.

In the full episode, Tony covers:
➡️ The four places lenders can use VantageScore 4.0 today: federal home loan bank collateral pledging, VA lending, pre-qualifications, and mortgage servicing
➡️ Why VantageScore 4.0 costs at least 50% less than FICO Classic and how the industry could save $600 million by making the switch
➡️ How VantageScore usage in ABS grew from $13.4 billion in 2024 to $22 billion in 2025, and why 2026 is on pace to be even bigger

Plus, VantageScore's Susan Fahy and Atif Mirza break down the latest CreditGauge™ data for January 2026, including early-stage delinquencies rising across all credit tiers, subprime reaching 11.9%, and personal loan originations leading growth as consumers shift away from new credit cards.

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

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.