Credit card lending falls
Published On 24 April 2007
Total credit card lending to UK consumers fell in March, a new report suggests.According to the British Bankers' Association (BBA), consumer credit card spending dropped by £117 million in the month.
While credit card spending increased by £3 million in February, it has typically fallen by £169 million every month for the last six months.
Personal loans and overdrafts also fell in March. However, the drop of £47 million was far less than February's reduction of £236 million.
The BBA's figures also revealed that mortgage lending could be moderating and the report suggested that growing consumer fears that interest rates could soon increase again could be responsible for the subdued spending in the month.
"Higher mortgage costs for households are no doubt a factor in the subdued demand for unsecured borrowing," explained David Dooks, the BBA's director of statistics.
Recent figures from a debt charity indicated that a UK household typically has £8,793 of debt without taking mortgages into account.
