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The loans have a weighted average (WA) score of 781, the highest to date for the platform, and the deal also has several key positive credit highlights, including the lowest concentration of leases with terms greater than 36 months.

On a weighted average basis the loans have a 7.03% coupon and a remaining term of 4.9 years. All 24 loans are full-term, interest-only loans.

Yields across the maturity spectrum climbed as much as 10 basis points on the day, reaching session highs after the ISM gauge of service-sector activity for January exceeded economist estimates.

A clash over pay playing out in contract negotiations between the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its employee union occur as the Supreme Court is considering whether the agency must get its funding from Congress.

Some 630 residential mortgages provide the collateral for the deal, and that includes a substantial majority, 81.0%, that the rating agencies consider to be non-prime.

With tougher capital requirements looming, a number of regionals including U.S. Bancorp, Huntington and Santander are using these new instruments to share risk with nonbank investors and lighten their capital load. Experts point out the pros and cons.

Credit strengths include a relatively fast amortization period, which can reduce exposure to loss risks, plus a collateral pool composed of frequently used, affordable smart phones.

The percentage of obligors in the pool with no credit history amounts to about 81.5%, and that is actually higher than prior transactions from the TAST program.

A key Senator had urged Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to lower rates early this year, but although there's more consensus on making such a move, it now looks unlikely to happen until after the next meeting.

Only loans that have made at least one payment were included in the collateral pool. At a weighted average (WA) 574, the pool's FICO score is slightly lower than that of recent pools.