(Bloomberg) -- As the Federal Reserve released its annual stress test results Wednesday, the central bank called out credit cards as a key driver of a bigger capital decline than last year. 

Ally Financial Inc.’s card portfolio fared the worst under the hypothetical recession with a projected loss rate topping 40%. Among the other firms with heavy theoretical losses were credit-card giant Capital One Financial Corp. and a Wall Street titan looking to get out of the game: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

For the second year in a row, Goldman was projected to lose about a quarter of its credit-card book in the Fed’s downturn scenario. It’s the latest signal of the lingering consequences of the firm’s now-aborted foray into consumer banking in recent years, as well as a porthole into the quality of its total card portfolio.

Goldman shares fell as much as 2.9% Thursday after the Fed said its common equity tier 1 capital ratio fell to 8.5% in this year’s test, from 14.4% at year-end. While still well above its required minimum, that marked the biggest percentage-point drop among the megabanks and was worse than last year’s result.

The annual assessment drives shareholder payouts for the biggest US banks. This year, each of the 31 firms passed the test — a “severely adverse” scenario that included peak US unemployment of 10% — though results varied among them. 

The Fed listed higher credit-card balances and rising delinquencies first among a trio of factors that led to a bigger aggregate capital decline than last year. The central bank said the firms grew credit card balances by over $100 billion in the past year, and delinquencies have increased more than 40%. 

Fed researchers highlighted that more borrowers have been missing payments in a recent report: “An increasing number of borrowers missed credit card payments, revealing worsening financial distress among some households,” said Joelle Scally, regional economic principal within the household and public policy research division at the New York Fed, said in a statement last month. 

Ally’s projected card losses jumped eightfold, which Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Ben Elliott called “unusual” and linked to “loan growth and an elevated pace of recent card delinquency and loss rates” in a Thursday note. American Express Co. fared best in the review, with projected card loan losses coming in just over 10%.

Goldman is in talks with other firms to take over parts of its credit-card book, tying up additional loose ends still outstanding from the bank’s consumer venture. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that Barclays Plc was considering taking over the General Motors Co. portfolio, and Goldman has separately explored ways to exit its card partnership with Apple Inc. 

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