The six biggest US credit card issuers recorded the fourth consecutive monthly drop in their group average 30-plus-day delinquency rate, and executives from the companies noted that consumers are starting to spend more rationally.

The average 30-plus-day delinquency rate for American Express Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Capital One Financial Corp. and Discover Financial Services edged lower month over month to 1.31% in May, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. This was still 21 basis points higher than a year ago, but the level has fallen steadily since rising for eight straight months to reach 1.41% in January.

Only JPMorgan reported a month-over-month uptick in May, with its 30-plus-day delinquency rate rising to 0.82% from 0.81% in April, but the rate was lower year over year. The other five companies posted lower delinquency rates in May sequentially, but higher rates year over year.

Big card issuers' average annualized net loss rate declines

The average annualized net loss rate for the six major card issuers also fell to 2.19% in May from 2.30% in April, although it was still up by 46 basis points from a year ago.

The annualized net loss rates of American Express, Bank of America, Capital One and Citigroup fell month over month but were still up year over year. For JPMorgan and Discover, the annualized net loss rates were up sequentially, but JPMorgan's declined by 7 basis points from a year ago while Discover's was up 62 basis points year over year.

During a June 12 investor conference, American Express CFO Christophe Le Caillec said the company's write-off and delinquency rates are expected to "tick up a little bit over time," though its numbers have remained "best-in-class" compared to its peers.

Slower on spending, consumers are behaving rationally

Bank executives noted a slowdown in consumers' credit card spending.

"On a spend-per-customer basis, that's more flattish, which I think is kind of consistent with what we've been talking about after a long period of sustained inflation and high interest rates," Jeff Norris, Capital One's senior vice president of finance, said June 11 at an investor conference.

Norris said consumers behaving "rationally" is "kind of a hallmark" and added that consumers are generally "the most rational players as economic cycles play out."

Dean Athanasia, Bank of America's president of regional banking, also noted consumers' "rational behavior" of slowing down spending a bit, which he considered "very healthy."

"Clients are spending more, though, on their debit cards than they are on their credit cards. So we still see some rational behavior going on," Athanasia said June 11 during an investor conference.

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Master trust portfolio yields up for most major card issuers

Master trust portfolio gross yields went up sequentially for five of the six major credit card issuers in May, with Citigroup the only one posting a month-over-month decline.

On a year-over-year basis, Citigroup posted the biggest drop, with its yield down 194 basis points. Capital One's yield, meanwhile, edged lower 5 basis points.

The rest booked higher yields year over year, with American Express posting the biggest yield increase of 196 basis points, followed by JPMorgan's 155-basis-point rise. Bank of America's master trust portfolio yield in May was up 83 points from a year ago, while Discover reported a 27-basis-point increase.