Bank of America CEO sees consumer resilience as gas prices rise
Brian Moynihan said Bank of America data showed August spending rose 4% from a year earlier as energy prices climbed.
By Jordan Bell · Startups & Deals Reporter
· 3 min read
Bank of America consumer resilience remains intact in the bank’s latest read, according to Chief Executive Brian Moynihan, even as energy prices climbed through August and into September. For investors, the takeaway is a current but limited signal from one large bank’s customer base: Moynihan said spending and credit data still looked healthy, while the data provided no full picture of all U.S. households.
Moynihan made the comments Wednesday on CNBC’s Mad Money, CNBC reported Sept. 9. He said Bank of America customers spent about 4% more in August than in the same month a year earlier, after 5% growth in the preceding quarter.
Brent crude oil topped $100 a barrel that day after energy prices rose amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, CNBC reported. The increase had prompted concerns that gasoline costs could pressure household budgets and consumer spending.
What did Bank of America say about consumer spending?
Moynihan described the bank’s consumer readout as consistent with a growing economy. He said the credit measures Bank of America was seeing were as strong as they had been in years.
He also addressed concerns about record credit-card balances. Moynihan argued that those balances should be viewed against an economy that he said was 40% larger, characterizing the pattern as a return toward trend.
Bank of America’s transaction and credit information can offer a timely view of activity among its customers, but it is not a comprehensive measure of U.S. consumers. CNBC’s report did not provide the bank’s methodology, customer mix, total spending dollars, inflation adjustment or a breakdown by income group. That means the 4% figure cannot on its own show how purchasing activity changed across the country or among different household groups.
What did Moynihan say about businesses and interest rates?
Moynihan said companies were continuing to borrow, invest and use their credit lines. He said the clearest effect of higher interest rates was on small and midsize businesses that depend on short-term credit lines, because borrowing had become more expensive.
Still, Moynihan said those businesses were borrowing and using their lines, and that credit quality remained good.
Bank of America executives had offered separate indications of consumer strength earlier in 2026. In April, Chief Financial Officer Alastair Borthwick said the company’s data continued to show a resilient U.S. consumer, while Moynihan cited 6% year-over-year credit- and debit-card spending growth in the first quarter, according to Axios. In June, Moynihan told Forbes that Bank of America research institute data showed May consumer spending up 5% from a year earlier.
Those earlier figures cover different periods and measures, so they should not be treated as one continuous spending series. The newest comments are Moynihan’s assessment of Bank of America’s own data, rather than a national consumer-spending report.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.
