Consumer finance new business fell by 10% in April

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) have shown that consumer finance new business fell in April 2023 by 10% compared with the same month in 2022. In the first four months of 2023, new business was 4% lower than in the same period in 2022.

The retail store and online credit sector reported new business up in April by 5% compared with the same month in 2022, while the credit card and personal loan sectors together reported a fall in new business of 8% over the same period.

Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, Director of Research and Chief Economist at the FLA, said “The performance of the consumer finance market in April reflected the ongoing uncertainty about the economic outlook as core inflation continued to rise and consumers face the prospect of further increases in Bank Rate over the summer.”

“Households are likely to remain cautious about discretionary spending in the near term and our latest research suggests that the value of new consumer credit in the UK is now likely to grow by 5% in 2023 as a whole.”

“As always, customers who are worried about meeting payments should speak to their lender as soon as possible to find a solution.”

New consumer credit lending

	Apr 2023	% change on prev. year	3 months to Apr 2023	% change on prev. year	12 months to Apr 2023	% change on prev. year
Total FLA consumer finance (£m)	8,793	-10	27,859	-5	114,998	3
Data extracts:
Retail store and online credit (£m)	766	5	2,281	5	10,017	6
Credit cards & personal loans (£m)	4,674	-8	14,130	-4	59,450	6
Second charge mortgages (£m)	99	-23	328	-15	1,512	18
Car finance (£m)	2,927	-16	10,079	-10	39,779	-1