Consumer finance new business increased by 8% in September

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show consumer finance new business grew by 8% in September, compared with the same month last year. In Q3 2019 as a whole, new business grew by 4% compared with the same quarter in 2018.

In September, credit card and personal loan new business together grew by 8% compared with the same month in 2018, while retail store and online credit new business increased by 5%. Second charge mortgage new business was up 18% by value and 20% by volume over the same period.

Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist said “September saw consumer finance new business grow by its strongest rate since October 2018, with growth across each of the main finance products.”

“Our latest research suggested that UK new consumer credit overall was expected to grow by 3.4% in 2019 as a whole, and by a similar rate in 2020.”

Table 1: New consumer credit lending

	Sep 2019	% change on prev. year	3 months to Sep 2019	% change on prev. year	12 months to Sep2019	% change on prev. year
Total FLA consumer finance (£m)	9,863	+8	26,903	+4	103,659	+2
Data extracts:
Retail store and online credit (£m)	736	+5	2,049	+2	8,752	+3
Credit cards & personal loans (£m)	4,363	+8	13,435	+3	51,817	0
Second charge mortgages (£m)	105	+18	321	+15	1,207	+17
Car finance (£m)	4,284	+7	9,873	+5	37,717	+3