October 2011 - Credit Card Statistics1
02/12/2011

Annual growth in borrowing (after allowing for the effects of debt write-offs and therefore reflecting current card activity) is 2.7%, the same as in October last year.

BBA statistics director, David Dooks, said:

"While the trend in card purchase numbers continues upwards, the proportion of borrowing bearing interest is stable, as consumers use the interest-free period before paying off or reducing balances."

Notes to Editors

1. These data cover the world-wide transactions of UK resident holders of credit cards issued in the UK by financial institutions affiliated to the Visa, Mastercard or Amex organisations. Earlier data on the BBA website showing the split between Mastercard and Visa are no longer shown, due to certain institutions moving existing credit card accounts from Visa or Mastercard to Amex branding.

2. Seasonally adjusted credit card purchases used in the ‘number of credit card purchases’ chart reveal underlying trends and allow adjacent months to be directly compared with each other. Lending growth allows for the effects of monthly write-offs, in line with data published by the Bank of England and other BBA data.

3. Data for January 2010 onwards have been updated to bring in amended and upgraded grossing factors; consequently data from then is not strictly comparable with earlier data.

4. The BBA is the leading UK banking and financial services trade association, representing its members, from 50 countries, on domestic and international issues. Our members provide the full range of banking and financial services, operating some 150 million current and deposit accounts in the UK and making up the world’s largest international banking centre.