Introduction
The UK consumer credit market continued to contract in 2009 as lending remained constricted. This outcome arose from lenders tightening up their lending criteria and consumers reducing their desire for credit products. Outstanding balances fell as consumers paid off their debt or lenders wrote them off.
Scope of this research
- Covers unsecured personal loans, credit cards, overdrafts, motor and retail finance lending in the UK.
- Examines key trends in the market during 2009 and looks at their impact going forward.
- Provides three forecasts for the market, with the Datamonitor view and a more optimistic and pessimistic scenario.
Research and analysis highlights
The success of the Bank of England's quantitative easing program is difficult to measure. However, the improvement of the financial markets and a number of large bond issues are seen as indicators that the policy has had some success. But the overall supply of money has declined, suggesting that the funds have not reached the most needy.
Credit card lending made up two-thirds of the overall consumer credit market in 2009, in terms of gross lending. This was a significant increase on the level seen in 2003, where just over half of the consumer credit market was comprised of credit card lending. POS motor finance and overdrafts have also seen growth in their share of consumer credit.
The Financial Services Bill has been rushed through during the 'wash up' before the election. The bill includes the banning of credit card cheques unless specifically requested by the consumer. The government sacrificed measures such as the creation of a Council for Financial Stability in order to ensure that the bill went through.
Key reasons to purchase this research
- Gain access to the latest consumer credit market data to allow comparison of your own performance with the market.
- Understand regulatory developments and their impact on the consumer credit market.
- Plan your future strategy with confidence using Datamonitor's scenario based forecasts.