September 08 - Credt Card Statistics1

Credit outstanding rose by £324 million in September, to stand at £65.3 billion, some 2.3% higher than the level a year earlier.

The proportion of balances bearing interest fell slightly from 73.4% to 73.2%.

There were 169.3 million transactions in the month (6.8% higher than in August and 10.5% higher than in the previous September), with a value of £12.9 billion (7.1% higher than in August; and 9.2% higher than in the previous September).

The number of cards in issue at end-September was 67,666,000, relating to 56,831,000 accounts, 61.9% of which were active, ie had a balance outstanding.