Credit Card Borrowing Dips

For the first time since records began, credit card lending fell last year reports the British Bankers Association (BBA). Figures show that the amount lent on credit cards fell by £1.8 billion in 2006, the first drop since 1993 when the figures were first compiled.

The BBA suggests that consumers are looking more closely at their personal borrowings and those that do need to borrow not only use credit cards but also overdrafts, unsecured loans and mortgages. The BBA also suggests the decrease in 0% credit card deals offered by card providers has had the effect of putting some consumers off making further purchases on card or applying for new cards.

From our own experiences with our credit card site, we can confirm that demand for balance transfer deals has dropped off from that of 12-24 months ago. The introduction of balance transfer fees has, in our opinion, had a big impact on the decreasing number of consumers actually transferring outstanding card balances.