consumer credit

American  

noun

1. credit extended by a retail store, bank, finance company, or other lender, chiefly for the purchase of consumer goods.

---

Etymology

Origin of consumer credit

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Economic data during the week include the BRC shop price index for April on Tuesday, followed by mortgage lending and consumer credit data for March and the final reading of April manufacturing PMI on Friday.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

Any growth pick-up will also be amplified, Lancastle stresses, by positive knock-on effects in consumer confidence and, as a consequence of that, a new consumer credit cycle.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 16, 2026

What is understood by most economists, however, is that a federal rate cap would function as a price control for the consumer credit markets.

From Barron's • Jan. 13, 2026

The economics calendar includes weekly jobless claims and the latest readings on the trade deficit and productivity, with consumer credit data set for release at 3 p.m.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 8, 2026

Stage One was to apply a formula that had been dreamed up to cope with corporate credit risk to consumer credit risk.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis