Bank of America CEO: ‘Consumers are Still Solidly in the Game'

Consumer Spending and Digital Engagement - Consumer spending remains robust, with credit and debit spend up 4% and the number of transactions increasing by 2% to $228 billion [1] - Digital sales as a percentage of total sales reached 65% in the most recent quarter, amounting to $1.9 billion, up from 53% and $1.7 billion in the same period of 2022 [2] - Zelle payments saw a volume of $130 billion, an increase from $106 billion in the previous year [2] - The bank's digital assistant Erica has surpassed 2.7 billion interactions since its inception in 2018 [3] Business Sentiment and Economic Outlook - Businesses are cautiously optimistic but concerned about the impact of tariffs on their operations and investment decisions [8] - The overall consumer spending pace is approximately 4.4% in the first quarter, continuing through April, indicating a strong consumer push into the economy [4] - Management noted that spending growth in early April has been running at 5% [5] Loan and Charge-off Trends - Commercial loans remained flat at $196 billion from the end of the previous year [7] - Net charge-offs were stable at $1.5 billion, consistent with previous quarters, with 90% of consumer net charge-offs tied to credit cards [4] - The card net charge-off ratio stands at 4%, with an average FICO score of 777 among cardholders [5]