Appetite for credit card debt “diminished”

The financial services provider’s so-called borrowing monitor suggests that while the number of people taking out mortgages continues to steadily increase, the same can not be said of credit card uptake.

In fact, figures have revealed that although credit card borrowing is still growing in popularity, the increase in uptake was only four per cent during 2006, which works out as the slowest rate ever.

Chris Rhodes, director of retail banking at Alliance & Leicester, remarked: “Consumers have shown an unprecedented appetite to reduce their unsecured borrowing, while their incomes have continued to grow and interest costs on their unsecured borrowings have fallen.”

Alliance & Leicester was founded over 150 years ago and currently offers a range of financial products, including credit cards and personal loans.