28 September 2005
Credit card lending was down in August, the British Bankers Association (BBA) said yesterday.
Credit card lending fell for the second time in five months, down by £146 million.
David Dooks, the BBA's director of statistics, said that the figures were surprising: "Credit cards are generally not being used to increase debt.
"Overall trend growth in consumer credit is less than half the level this time last year."
The news is being blamed on the slowdown in consumer spending, so much so that net lending "continued to be subdued", said Mr Dooks.
By contrast, net mortgage lending figures were up "significantly".
Howard Archer, chief economist at Global Insight, told the Times Online: "Buyer interest is picking up helped by more realistic house pricing and August's cut in interest rates.
"Nevertheless, any significant renewed strengthening of house prices seems unlikely for some time to come given still stretched affordability ratios."
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