Arrears and losses on personal loans are a rising nuisance for banks, with recent trends attracting rare scrutiny by the RBA in the half yearly Financial Stability Review, out on Friday.A less credit-worthy cohort are stirring demand for personal loans, a long docile niche, with some borrowers joining the delinquency rolls in short order.The RBA summed up the issue by saying: "borrowers who seek fixed-term personal loans are increasingly a pool of renters, younger and/or lower-income borrowers, all of whom typically have a higher level of non-performing loans than homeowners."Drawing on data from the Survey of Income and Housing, the RBA said the share of credit card and motor vehicle debt held by the lowest income quintile increased from five per cent in the 2003/04 survey to just under ten per cent in 2015/16.The share held by renters increased from about one-quarter to around one-third, the RBA said, while "over the same period, the share of the total number of loans held by renters as well as by lower-income households also increased."Entrenched regional themes recur among borrowers falling behind on personal loan repayments."There is some evidence that the rise in non-performing personal loans reflects a cyclical increase in financial stress of households in some parts of the country," the RBA observed.It said that "liaison with banks [suggests] the challenging economic conditions in Western Australia and parts of Queensland following the unwinding of the mining investment boom are contributing to the rise in non-performing personal loans."In contrast, "banks also report that there has been little change in non-performing ratios outside of these mining-related areas."The precariat, a term coined for those with low job security and unreliable hours, is dependent on credit cards, the RBA FSR makes clear."It is younger and lower-income borrowers (who typically rent) who constitute a larger share of those using credit cards to fund purchases that are paid off gradually over time," the RBA wrote."Data from HILDA also suggest renters are more likely to pay interest on credit cards than owner-occupiers."