Neighborhood Racial Characteristics, Credit History, and Bankcard Credit in Indian Country

We draw on a large-scale dataset of individual-level credit bureau records to study bankcard credit limits in Indian Country. Utilizing approaches that aim to isolate supply from demand considerations, we find that residing in a predominantly American Indian neighborhood is ceteris paribus associated with lower awarded bankcard credit limits than residing in a neighborhood where the share of American Indian residents is low. Consumer’s credit history is a robust and quantitatively more important predictor of awarded credit limits than racial composition of the consumer’s neighborhood. Bankcard credit limits do not depend on the consumer’s location vis-à-vis a reservation.