US Banks’ Private-Credit Zeal Fuels $348 Billion Pile of Loans

Wall Street has been pouring into private credit, fueling rapid growth in firms’ portfolios of loans to non-banks.

Lending to so-called non-depository financial institutions has almost quadrupled over the past 10 years, surging to about $1.4 trillion as of the end of 2025, Moody’s Ratings said in a report Tuesday. Such lending makes up roughly 11% of banks’ total loans, and is the fastest growing portion of their balance sheets.

The growth of the business is now raising some potential red flags for analysts at the rating company.

“If an area expands much more rapidly than the broader market, that ...