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.

Whats In Your Wallet?

Almost half of all British adults (45%) are carrying around plastic that they haven’t used in the last 12 months, according to a new report out this week from the Morgan Stanley Credit Card.

The report, which investigates the use of plastic by British credit cardholders, reveals that the average number of active credit cards is 1.2 per adult. Just 23 per cent of cardholders have more than one card they regularly use or that carries a balance. The study also found that cards with a reward scheme such as cash back, or reward points such as Goldfish or Airmiles, are most likely to be at the front of a cardholder’s wallet for everyday spending.

Patrick Muir, marketing director for the Morgan Stanley Credit Card commented: ‘There has been much speculation about the increasing use of plastic in the UK but our report shows that British cardholders are perhaps more savvy than they have been given credit for. Millions of cardholders are taking advantage of loyalty schemes for their everyday spending, with these cards least likely to be lying idle in wallets.

Types of cards most likely to be active and inactive

• Cards with expired zero per cent offers are most likely to be lying dormant in British wallets (33%). Across the age groups this figure rises to 37 per cent of 30 to 50 years olds, compared to 31 per cent for those under 30 and over 50 years of age.
• Credit cards which were taken out with the cardholder’s main bank made up a further 21 per cent of dormant cards. Two thirds of these dormant cards were issued by the Big Four banks.
• Credit cards attached to a reward scheme accounted for 11 per cent of dormant cards, whilst cash back cards are least likely to be inactive, accounting for just 6 per cent of dormant cards.