Measures of loan performance were generally better than expected at Ally, American Express, Synchrony and Sallie Mae. Their 1Q reports suggest that consumers remain able to meet their obligations despite a long run-up in debt.

More consumers were late in paying two major types of loans in the latest figures from the American Bankers Association, but it appears to be a relatively isolated problem.

The upstart lenders have been chipping away at credit cards’ consumer-lending dominance by offering fixed-rate loans with predictable repayment plans. Now the card giants are fighting back.

The foray into digital consumer lending follows a similar move by rival Citigroup.

The move, reported by The Wall Street Journal, could be part of a deeper foray into cobranded cards by Goldman, which has been expanding into consumer finance through its Marcus unit.

While student, auto and credit card balances are at or near record levels, housing debt is shrinking, credit quality is weakening a bit and lending standards, at least in some sectors, are tightening.

In selling its Walmart credit card portfolio to Capital One and extending a partnership with Sam’s Club that appeared to be in peril, Synchrony Financial avoids an expensive legal battle with the world’s largest retailer.

As part of the agreement with HSN, Synchrony has also extended its partnerships with HSN affiliates QVC and the e-commerce site Zulily.

Margaret Keane discussed Synchrony's investments in technology, including how the card issuer plans to use customer data to help retailers create targeted ads, during an appearance Tuesday in New York,

Citigroup spent years reeling in customers with promotional rates, many of which have expired or soon will. The bank thinks it can keep a large number of those customers and make more money off of them.