The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed up prices and caused shortages of commodities such as fuel and helium, while U.S. banks have quietly tightened lending standards, according to a May 2 report [1]. Consumer credit scores have not fallen, but lenders are raising internal cutoffs and adding more manual review to loan applications [1].
Alexander Katsman, chief executive and founder of Credit Booster AI, said the credit score itself has not been hit by the conflict. "Nobody's credit score dropped because of Iran. But try getting approved for a mortgage right now with a 670 FICO and see what happens," he said [1]. He said lenders are making changes without public notice. "They don't announce it, there's no press release that says 'we raised our cutoff from 660 to 700.' It just happens," Katsman said [1].
The report said borrowers who would have qualified earlier are now being turned down with the same financial profile. Katsman cited one case in which a borrower with a 690 FICO score, two years on the job and $8,000 in savings was denied for an auto loan, even though the same profile had been approved in November 2024 [1]. Mortgage lenders are also applying stricter underwriting overlays, which is leading to more rejections during the period of global instability [1].
David Temko, president of C2 Financial, said lenders with strong systems are holding steady while others are tightening their rules. "When risk rises, you'll see institutions with strong infrastructure and consistent underwriting remain steady while others tighten overlays, raise reserves," he said [1]. The report said the shift in lending began in late 2024 and has continued into early 2026, with some borrowers who once qualified for auto loans or mortgages now being denied despite unchanged credit scores [1].
