New business volumes in the consumer finance industry increased by 4% in July compared to the same month last year, new figures published by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) have indicated.

The latest data has shown that over the opening seven months of 2024, new consumer finance business has “held steady” compared with the same period in 2023.

Members of the FLA from across the consumer finance sector include banks, credit card providers, store card providers, second charge mortgage lenders, personal loan and instalment credit providers, as well as motor finance providers.

According to the latest figures, the credit card and personal loans sectors together reported new business up in July by 5% compared with the same month in 2023, while the retail store and online credit sector reported a fall in new business of 1%.

Director of research and chief economist at the FLA, Geraldine Kilkelly, said: “The consumer finance market made a positive start to the third quarter of 2024 with modest growth in the value of new business in July.

“Consumers’ optimism about the outlook for their personal finances and committing to big-ticket purchases has greatly improved in recent months off the back of better news on inflation and interest rates. We expect total UK new consumer credit by value to grow by around 6% in 2024 as a whole.”

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