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US Fintech & Payments

US consumer credit is under strain while venture lending booms: credit card delinquency at commercial banks was 2.92% of balances in January 2026 (FRED), and VC-backed companies took $64.7 billion of venture debt in H1 2026 (NVCA). 3.9% of households used Buy Now, Pay Later in 2023 (FDIC).

20 verified facts tracked for this market — each with its source, reporting period and evidence tier. Tier 1 = primary institutions (central banks, statistical offices); tier 2 = disclosed industry panels.

MetricValueGeoPeriodTierSource
Increase in median Series A pre-money valuation versus 2021 peak, US89.9percentUS2026-H1T1nvca.org
Average early-stage venture debt deal value, US134.7USD millionUS2026-H1T1nvca.org
US venture debt issuance to VC-backed companies64.7USD billionUS2026-H1T1nvca.org
US Finance and Insurance sector businesses currently using AI33.9percentUS2026-05T1census.gov
US credit card delinquency rate, all commercial banks2.92% of outstanding credit card balances 30US2026-01T1fred.stlouisfed.org
Median gross non-credit-card fraud loss among adults with family income below USD 50000400USDUS2025T1federalreserve.gov
Share of US first-time VC financings going to all-male founding teams78.8percent of deal countUS2025T1nvca.org
Share of US VC deal value invested in the largest 0.05 percent of deals50percent of deal valueUS2025T1nvca.org
Median age of US VC-backed company at seed round2.38yearsUS2025T1nvca.org
US median pre-seed VC deal size0.5USD millionUS2025T1nvca.org
US pre-seed and seed venture deals5049VC dealsUS2025T1nvca.org
Average debit card interchange fee per transaction charged by exempt small issuers on dual-message networks0.61USD per transactionUS2024T1federalreserve.gov
U.S. household BNPL missed-or-late-payment incidence among BNPL users12.8% of households that used Buy Now, Pay Later in the past 12 months and missed or made a late payment on at least one BNPL purchase; lower-income BNPL users 21.4% vs $75k+ income BNPL users 9.4%US2023T1fdic.gov
Share of US employer businesses that applied for credit and received none of it7.2% (2023) vs 10.8% (2020)% of employer businesses that applied for new credit and received none of the requested amount; 2023 Annual Business Survey (ABS), US Census BureauUnited States2023T1census.gov
Share of Buy Now, Pay Later users making between two and ten purchases in a year59.2percent of BNPL-using householdsUS2023T1fdic.gov
Households that used Buy Now, Pay Later in the past 12 months3.9percent of all householdsUS2023T1fdic.gov
Unbanked households not at all interested in having a bank account51.2percent of unbanked householdsUS2023T1fdic.gov
Share of US employer businesses receiving all the credit they applied for57.2% (2023) vs 54.9% (2020)% of employer businesses that applied for new credit in the prior year and received the full amount requested; 2023 Annual Business Survey (ABS), US Census BureauUnited States2023T1census.gov
Unbanked households whose main reason is not enough money to meet minimum balance requirements23.3percent of unbanked householdsUS2023T1fdic.gov
Unbanked rate among households in the lowest family income band21.8percent of households in the bandUS2023T1fdic.gov

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