Across the country, thousands of banks and credit unions are bucking the dominant just-say-no mentality when it comes to consumer lending. In the wake of the financial crisis that saddled banks with huge losses, the largest 10% of banks by assets shrank their consumer lending by 4.7% last year, tightening the spigot on loans that aren't backed by the government. At many smaller banks and credit unions, though, cash continued to flow, with consumer loans rising 3% at financial institutions that fall in the bottom 50% of the industry in assets.

This tool will allow you to find the lenders doing business in particular zip codes whose consumer lending business is growing.

Below, see the results of the Journal's analysis of financial-institution data filed with regulators. Enter a ZIP code to see how much institutions with branches near you have been lending. Read the Methodology. (See related article.)