In the Federal Reserve’s July 2026 survey of bank loan officers, a net 6.7% of domestic banks said they had tightened standards for approving credit card applications over the prior three months. The figure was 2.0 in April 2026 and 0.0 in January 2026.
A positive number means more banks tightened than eased. It does not say how much stricter any bank became, and it is not an approval rate. The reading in July 2025 was 10.4. Since January 1996, the highest reading was 71.7 in July 2020 and the lowest was -37.3 in July 2021.
Net share of banks tightening card standards, last 12 surveys
| Survey | Net share tightening |
|---|---|
| October 2023 | 28.9 |
| January 2024 | 22.9 |
| April 2024 | 21.2 |
| July 2024 | 20.0 |
| October 2024 | 18.4 |
| January 2025 | 9.4 |
| April 2025 | 5.6 |
| July 2025 | 10.4 |
| October 2025 | 4.2 |
| January 2026 | 0.0 |
| April 2026 | 2.0 |
| July 2026 | 6.7 |
The full series, from January 1996, is in the CSV. FRED dates each survey to the first day of its quarter; the Fed runs the survey four times a year.
What this counts
The Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey asks a panel of large and regional U.S. banks whether their standards for a loan type tightened, eased or stayed about the same. The net percentage is the share reporting tighter standards minus the share reporting easier ones. The panel is a limited number of banks, so a few banks changing their answer can move the number noticeably. For a measure built from actual applications, see the New York Fed credit rejection rates.
Source
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices, Net Percentage of Domestic Banks Tightening Standards for Credit Card Loans (DRTSCLCC), retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. FRED shows the series last updated August 3, 2026. We pulled it on October 12, 2026. U.S. government data; the Fed asks for citation. Our table is available under CC BY 4.0. Credit "My Credit Guide (mycreditguide.org)".
Steven Reynolds, "Banks Tightening Credit Card Standards," My Credit Guide, October 12, 2026, https://mycreditguide.org/data/credit-card-lending-standards/.