Investors have shown increasing demand for ABS with home improvement loans and other esoteric assets.

Issuance of home-improvement securitizations came in at $3.5 billion in 2023, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Some of that volume was in privately-rated deals that haven’t been disclosed to this point.

The potential merger of the two credit card companies will result in significant consolidation in bank credit card portfolios and a new market leader.

Huntington National Bank is in the market with its first auto ABS since 2016. The bank completed a credit-risk transfer transaction in late December involving a $3.0 billion pool of auto loans.

Purchasing Power partners with employers to offer employees funds for purchases of appliances, electronics and furniture. The firm doesn’t charge interest on the loans. Instead, prices on the items are marked up.

Citibank this week issued two credit card securitizations totaling $1.5 billion. The bank’s last credit card deal was in October 2018.

The SEC has finalized a rule prohibiting certain conflicts of interest in the securitization market. Industry participants are largely happy with changes in the final version of the rule.

Servicing practices at credit unions, relatively new participants in the auto ABS market, differ in some ways from the industry at large.

VineBrook Homes is set to issue its first single-family rental securitization. Issuance in the sector ticked up in the third quarter after declining for more than a year.

Esoteric ABS provide stronger yields than traditional ABS. In exchange, investors face greater liquidity risk and some unknowns on future performance.