7 February 2008
Consumers attempting to get a handle on their New Year finances mean that January is a very popular month in which to take out a personal loan, new figures from lender Halifax show.
According to the personal loans provider, increased numbers of people consolidating their debts into a single unsecured loan - and a single monthly payment - drives up overall loan rates to almost double that of other months in the year.
The traditional festive spending splurge - measured last year at £53 billion in the UK by payments association APACS - is thought to be behind the rush of personal loan applications for January.
Halifax also found that twenty-somethings were the most likely group to take out a personal loan for debt consolidation purposes.
Head of Halifax Unsecured Personal Loans Neil Chandler said: "For many people, the start of the year is a time to get personal finances in order - transferring debt from more expensive products such as store cards or other loans.
"Our research shows that this is certainly the case, with the number of loans taken out for debt consolidation increasing."