Payday Loans News

Credit card lending has contracted by the biggest monthly amount since 2006 amid consumers’ determination to pay down their debts, Bank of England figures showed.

Card repayments outstripped new borrowing by £118 million in April, the largest amount since August 2006, when they outweighed borrowing by £152 million.

Other types of personal lending rose by £400 million, a more subdued increase than the £500 million rise seen in March, showing how people lack the appetite for borrowing amid economic uncertainty and high unemployment.

The figures follow a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report which argued that credit card use could fall into permanent decline, with the rise of digital technology and payday lenders changing how people access credit.

Credit card

That report argued that the innovation and convenience offered by “alternative lenders” such as high interest payday loan companies was encouraging a broader selection of consumers to choose their services over banks.

Melanie Bowler, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, said: “Households are favouring paying down debt, rather than undertaking new borrowing. Demand for credit will remain contained through 2012 amid lingering job security concerns.

“Interestingly however, there has been something of a boom over the past year in demand for relatively new payday loans, which offer short-term loans designed to be repaid typically within a month-and-a-half. With these bridging loans offering exorbitant repayment rates, the risk of UK households actually falling deeper into debt is increasing.”

The Bank of England figures also provided further evidence that people are having a tougher time taking out a mortgage, as approvals remained way below their long-term average.

There were 51,823 approvals for house purchase in April worth £7.6 billion, a 1.5% increase on the previous month, but still under the previous six-month average of more than 53,000 approvals.

The figures have been modestly creeping up after hitting a seven-month low in February, just before a two-year stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers ended the following month.

The Press Association