UK card spend decreases

Latest update figures on household finance by UK Finance indicates that card spending was 1.2 percent lower than in March 2017 with repayments outstripping new lending in the first quarter of 2018. Outstanding levels of credit card borrowing have grown by 5.8 per cent over the year. Gross mortgage lending in March is estimated to have been £20.5bn, 2.3 percent lower than a year earlier. The number of total mortgage approvals has also fallen and is 15 percent lower, with house purchase approvals falling by almost 21 percent, compared to a year earlier. Growth in personal deposits has grown by 1.8 percent over the year, slightly down on the previous six-month average of 2 percent.

Eric Leenders, Managing Director, Personal Finance, UK Finance said“March figures show that consumer borrowing was fairly modest, with card spending down and repayments outstripping lending in the first quarter of 2018.  Growth in personal deposits also increased over the year, alongside a rise in overdraft repayments. There was a rising trend in mortgage approvals for the first three months of 2018 although the number is slightly lower than the same period in 2017.”