Technical Q&As RSS Data Download

This page provides additional information about data in the Board of Governors' statistical release on Consumer Credit (G.19). Most of the information is of a technical nature and represents answers to questions that may be of interest to a range of analysts and researchers. The page will be updated as such questions arise.

Documentation for the statistics in the G.19 release is available on the About page on the Board's website.

  1. What do the flow data represent?
  2. Why did you choose to publish flow data?
  3. How do I calculate the growth rate with flows?
  4. Why does the seasonally adjusted growth rate published at the top of the G.19 differ in some periods
    from the growth rate computed from the seasonally adjusted level?

  5. Under what circumstances are breaks allowed?
  6. Are data prior to the start of the revision in 2006 comparable to data after the break?
  7. Why is there a break in the seasonally adjusted level in December 2006?
  8. Why does the seasonally adjusted level equal the seasonally unadjusted level each December?
  9. What happened to the Commercial banks and Savings institutions sectors? What is included in
    Depository institutions?

  10. What types of loans are included in the Nonprofit and Educational Institutions sector?
  11. What types of institutions are included in the Nonprofit and Educational Institutions sector?
  12. What is included in the Student Loans memo item?
  13. Is the Student Loans memo item a subset of total nonrevolving consumer credit?
  14. What data sources are used to produce the Student Loans memo?
  15. Why does the G.19 student loan estimate differ from the student loan estimate published in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's (NY Fed) Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit?
  16. What types of motor vehicles are included in the Motor Vehicle Loans memo item?
  17. Is the Motor Vehicle Loans memo item a subset of total nonrevolving consumer credit?
  18. What happened to the lines of Pools of Securitized Assets on the Consumer Credit (G.19) release?
  19. Are “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) loans included in the G.19 Consumer Credit estimates?
  20. What is the cause of the large changes in levels of receivables of finance companies in June 2021?

1. What do the flow data represent?

Flow data represent changes in the level of credit due to economic and financial activity, rather than breaks in the data series due to changes in methodology, source data, and other technical aspects of the estimation that could affect the level of credit.


2. Why did you choose to publish flow data?

Publishing flow data allows users to calculate a growth rate of consumer credit that excludes breaks due to changes in methodology, source data, and other technical aspects of the estimation that could affect the level of credit.


3. How do I calculate the growth rate with flows?

The seasonally adjusted annualized growth rate is calculated from annualized flow data as follows:

\displaystyle G^{SA}_t=100*\frac{F^{SA}_t}{L^{SA}_{t-1}}

Where  {F}_{t} is the annualized flow in month t and  {L}_{t-1} is the level in month t-1. If the flow is at a monthly rate, it can be converted to an annual rate by multiplying the monthly flow by 12.


4. Why does the seasonally adjusted growth rate published at the top of the G.19 differ in some periods from the growth rate computed from the seasonally adjusted level?

The seasonally adjusted growth rate published at the top of the G.19 is calculated as the current seasonally adjusted flow of consumer credit, divided by the previous seasonally adjusted level. In periods that include a series break, this growth rate will differ from the growth rate calculated using only the level of consumer credit as the latter will reflect the break in the series.


5. Under what circumstances are breaks allowed?

Breaks in the data series were allowed only to reflect significantly large changes in methodology, source data, and other technical aspects of the estimation that could affect the level of credit.


6. Are data prior to the start of the revision in 2006 comparable to data after the break?

For most sectors, the data before and after the break are directly comparable. The underlying methodology change for Depository institutions, Finance companies, Credit unions and the Federal Government sectors is sufficiently small. The methodology change for nonfinancial businesses and securitized pools is significantly large so users should use caution when comparing trends prior to the start of the revision in January 2006 and after this date. For more information on the new methodology, see the G.19 release's "About" page.


7. Why is there a break in the seasonally adjusted level in December 2006?

Prior to this revision, the Federal Reserve seasonally adjusted the level of consumer credit. Because with this revision the level of consumer credit may contain series breaks, seasonal patterns are now estimated using the flow of consumer credit. This change in seasonal adjustment methodology required a break in the seasonally adjusted level.


8. Why does the seasonally adjusted level equal the seasonally unadjusted level each December?

The method for estimating seasonal patterns on the flow of credit requires the seasonal movements to fully offset each other over the course of an entire year, which implies that for one month of every year, the seasonally unadjusted level equals the seasonally adjusted level. This seasonal adjustment methodology applies to data after 2005.


9. What happened to the Commercial banks and Savings institutions sectors? What is included in Depository institutions?

The G.19 has been restructured to reflect regulatory filing changes for U.S.-chartered depository institutions. In particular, savings institutions now file the same regulatory report as the U.S.-chartered commercial banks. The U.S.-chartered commercial banks sector and the savings institution sector (previously shown separately) have been combined into a new sector called depository institutions.


10. What types of loans are included in the Nonprofit and Educational Institutions sector?

The Nonprofit and Educational Institutions sector includes only Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans held by such institutions.


11. What types of institutions are included in the Nonprofit and Educational Institutions sector?

The Nonprofit and Educational Institutions sector reflects data from nonprofit lenders and schools. Examples include Brazos Group, Utah State Board of Regents, and the University of Pennsylvania.


12. What is included in the Student Loans memo item?

The Student Loans memo item reflects the total student loan debt outstanding, including accrued interest and defaulted federal loans. The estimate is constructed by summing private (non-guaranteed) student loans and federal student loans outstanding issued under the Direct Loan, the Federal Family Education Loan, and the Perkins programs.


13. Is the Student Loans memo item a subset of total nonrevolving consumer credit?

No. The vast majority of the balances reflected in the Student Loans memo item are included in total nonrevolving credit. However, charged-off government-guaranteed student loans held by private financial institutions are excluded from total nonrevolving credit but included in the student loan memo item.


14. What data sources are used to produce the Student Loans memo?

The Department of Education (DoEd) is the data source for government-guaranteed loans and MeasureOne is the source for private (non-guaranteed) loans. The DoEd data are available at http://studentaid.ed.gov/about/data-center/student/portfolio.


15. Why does the G.19 student loan estimate differ from the student loan estimate published in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's (NY Fed) Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit?

The two estimates are based on different source data. The G.19 estimate is based on data reported by lenders, whereas the NY Fed estimate is based on credit bureau data. Nonetheless, the two data sources show remarkably similar trends in student loan growth. For more information regarding the measurement of student loan balances and the comparison between the G.19 and NY Fed estimates, see: http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/notes/feds-notes/2015/how-much-student-debt-is-out-there-20150807.html


16. What types of motor vehicles are included in the Motor Vehicle Loans memo item?

The Motor Vehicle Loans memo item includes passenger cars, minivans, vans, sport-utility vehicles, pickup trucks, and other light trucks for personal use. Boats, motorcycles, and recreational vehicles are not included.


17. Is the Motor Vehicle Loans memo item a subset of total nonrevolving consumer credit?

Yes, it is.


18. What happened to the lines of Pools of Securitized Assets on the Consumer Credit (G.19) release?

Starting with the April 2020 G.19 Consumer Credit statistical release, scheduled to be published on June 5, 2020, the release will no longer report the levels and flows of on-book loan balances and off-book securitized loan balances as separate line items. Instead, the release will report aggregate balances of total owned and managed receivables--the sum of on-book and off-book loan balances--for each sector. For more information, please see: Updated securitized assets presentation in G.19 Consumer Credit release


19. Are “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) loans included in the G.19 Consumer Credit estimates?

​There are generally two main types of BNPL products: (i) traditional “Buy Now, Pay Later” loans, defined by the option to split a purchase into multiple, equally-sized payments at the time of acquisition, with or without interest and (ii) products allowing for the post-purchase split of transactions exceeding a certain threshold into monthly payments. The extent to which these loans are captured on the G.19 Consumer Credit statistical release largely depends on the type of lender who originates the loan and on how the lenders classify these loans according to their internal accounting practices. Generally, loans originated by banks and credit unions are well captured on the G.19 estimates. However, many of the major BNPL lenders are newly established non-bank lenders, where there is more limited coverage. Moreover, the G.19 is not currently able to separately track the volume of originations and outstanding balances of such loans.


20. What is the cause of the large changes in levels of receivables of finance companies in June 2021?

In August 2023, the Federal Reserve Board announced the completion of the 2020 Census and Survey of Finance Companies. The finance company data were benchmarked to these estimates which reflected the holdings of the finance company sector in June 2021. Collection and incorporation of these data were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to improvements in survey methodology and changes in panel coverage, data were not revised prior to June 2021. Instead, a break was added in June 2021, ensuring that the break-adjusted flows and percent changes up to June 2021 were not impacted by the benchmark.

Back to Top
Last Update: August 16, 2023