Americans are borrowing again, in some cases at levels not seen in more than a decade. According to Equifax, consumer demand for auto loans and leases, general-purpose credit cards and personal loans was up 39% in April compared to year ago levels. It was also up 11% compared with April 2019. Equifax said lenders bumped up credit card originations, issuing more general-purpose credit cards than any other March on record since Equifax started tracking data in 2010. [The Wall Street Journal]
Visa said its customers spent more than $1 billion on its crypto-linked cards in the first half of this year, as the payments processor takes steps to make crypto transactions smoother. The company said it was partnering with 50 cryptocurrency platforms to make it easier for customers to convert and spend digital currencies at 70 million merchants worldwide. In March, the company announced it will allow the use of the USD Coin to settle transactions on its payment network. [Reuters]
BlockFi launched its first-ever crypto rewards credit card, in conjunction with Visa, to approved clients in the United States. BlockFi’s plans for a credit card were initially disclosed in December 2020 when the exchange released a waiting list for US-based clients, which is now over 400,000 people. The new offering provides clients with a simple way to acquire bitcoin without having to pay fees or navigate the sometimes-complicated onboarding processes at exchanges. [Forbes]
