December 2020 data on UK credit cards reveals rapidly increasing balances for consumers missing two or more payments

The FICO UK Credit Market Report for November shows a rise in card spending, raising concerns over post-holiday payments

Analysis of UK card trends shows scope for high spending over the holiday, perhaps leading some consumers into hot water

The furlough schemes and payment holidays continue to mask the extent of consumers' financial troubles

UK card issuers’ data reveals continued increase in spending as well as first signs of consumers missing two payments

FICO UK Credit Card Market Report – June/July 2020

FICO UK Credit Market Report – May 2020

Benchmarking data can help you evaluate strategies, identify focus areas for your portfolio, and provide information to auditors and regulators

At FICO, our top priority is the health and safety of our employees, clients, partners and the communities where we live and work.

2-cycle balances growing for cards raise issues around Persistent Debt

My last two posts on persistent debt in the UK focused on compliance and prevention. Here’s a different angle: Can issuers actually compete in this area?

Following on from my previous post on persistent debt, here I’m tackling the topic of preventing customers from falling into persistent debt.

While issuers have already started the actions prescribed by the FCA's persistent debt regulations, there is still a sizeable amount of work to complete and opportunities to be identified.

With over £40 billion of unused exposure on inactive UK cards and over £50 billion on active UK cards there is the potential for huge losses if consumers start to eat into these limits.

Our analysis of UK cards data from the FICO Benchmarking Service has revealed some troubling trends in UK cards delinquencies. All average delinquent balances reached over two-year highs in the fourth quarter of 2018.