Consumer finance new business falls by 1% in September

New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show consumer finance new business fell by 1% in September, compared with the same month last year. In Q3 2018, new business grew by 5% compared with the same quarter in 2017.

In September, credit card and personal loan new business together grew by 4% compared with the same month in 2017, while retail store and online credit new business increased by 8%. The value and volume of second charge mortgage new business both grew by 11% in September.

Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, Head of Research and Chief Economist at the FLA, said:

“The fall in consumer finance new business in September was the first since April 2017, and in part reflects the impact of recent changes to emission standards for new cars on the POS consumer new car finance market.

“In the first nine months of 2018, consumer finance new business grew by 8% compared with the same period in 2017, in line with expectations of single-digit growth in the year overall.”

Table 1: New consumer credit lending

Note to editors:

1. FLA members in the consumer finance sector include banks, credit card providers, store card providers, second-charge mortgage lenders, motor finance providers, personal loan and instalment credit providers.
2. In 2017, FLA members provided £128 billion of new finance to UK businesses and households. £96 billion of this was in the form of consumer credit representing over a third of total new consumer credit written in the UK in 2017.
3. For media enquiries, please contact the FLA press office on 020 7420 9656.