FICO Study Reveals Rising Demand for Credit

According to a recent study from ""FICO"":http://www.fico.com/en/Pages/default.aspx, U.S. banks are anticipating the end of the ""household deleveraging"" trend observed among consumers during the past five years. The company's latest quarterly survey revealed that bankers are expecting an uptick in customers' demand for credit.

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Conducted by the ""Professional Risk Managers' International Association"":http://prmia.org/on behalf of FICO, the report found that financial professionals ""expect the supply of consumer credit to satisfy the growing demand.""

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Additionally, results showed that the majority of respondents ""believe the supply of financing for auto loans, credit cards, new mortgages, small business loans, student loans, and mortgage refinancing will meet or exceed consumer demand over the next six months.""

FICO noted that 61 percent of bankers polled project a rise in requests to increase credit lines in the next six months, while the same percentage expect new credit requests from consumers to escalate during the period. The current results represent the highest on record for FICO in the 11 quarters since the survey was established, and additionally, the quotient of bankers predicting an elevation in credit card balances - 59 percent of respondents - reflects the second-highest figure seen in the survey's history.

""These results indicate that 2013 could be the year that Americans begin to embrace credit again, after the considerable deleveraging we've seen since 2008,"" noted Dr. Andrew Jennings, chief analytics officer at FICO and head of FICO Labs.

""With both the job market and real estate sector showing signs of life, American consumers may again be willing to fund their lifestyles by taking on more debt. And it appears that banks are willing to oblige,"" Dr. Jennings concluded.