Finance & Leasing Association6 June 2013
New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that point-of-sale finance continues to support the economy by helping consumers make essential purchases. Consumer car finance provided through dealerships has been particularly strong, and April saw new business in store instalment credit 14% higher than in the same month in 2012. The second-charge mortgage market also returned a good performance with new business up 58% by value and 38% by volume compared with April 2012.
Commenting on the figures, Fiona Hoyle, Head of Consumer Finance at the FLA, said: “The contribution to the economy made by point-of-sale finance should not be underestimated. It is playing a much-needed role in supporting local High Streets.
“With less than a year to go before consumer credit regulation transfers to the Financial Conduct Authority, a sensible implementation timetable will be essential so that firms have time to implement all the changes and consumers can still access credit when they want it.”
Table 1: New consumer credit lending
| Apr 13 | % change on prev. year | 3 months to Apr 2013 | % change on prev. year | 12 months to Apr 2013 | % change on prev. year | |
| Total FLA consumer finance (£m) | 4,789 | +8 | 14,244 | +3 | 55,449 | +4 |
| Data extracts: | ||||||
| Store cards (£m) | 103 | -4 | 284 | -9 | 1,423 | -14 |
| Credit cards & personal loans (£m) | 2,533 | -6 | 7,343 | -8 | 31,563 | -4 |
| Store instalment credit (£m) | 256 | +14 | 711 | +7 | 2,811 | +14 |
| Second mortgages (£m) | 38 | +58 | 101 | +35 | 359 | +20 |
| Car finance (£m) | 1,730 | +34 | 5,461 | +24 | 17,928 | +23 |
Note to editors:
- 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 short-term credit lenders, and instalment credit providers.
- In 2012 FLA members provided £76.4 billion of new finance to UK businesses and households. £54.9 billion of this was in the form of consumer credit representing about 30% of all unsecured lending in the UK.
