Top U.S. Banks’ Lending Shrinks With Virus Drawdowns Paid Back

The surge in lending by top U.S. banks spurred by the coronavirus pandemic was reversed in the second quarter, with large companies paying back most of the money they’d borrowed in case of emergency and consumers taking on less debt.

The six biggest banks’ outstanding loans fell 5% to $3.87 trillion last quarter after expanding 6% in the first three months of the year. That brought aggregate loans for the top lenders back to where they were at the end of 2019.

Large corporations drew down about $311 billion from existing credit lines, mostly in March and April. Most of ...