Credit outstanding in December rose by £1,072 million, to stand at £65.0 billion, 2.1% below the level a year earlier.

The proportion of balances bearing interest rose from 72.9% to 73.1%.

There were 195.9 million transactions in the month (11.5% more than in November and 4.6% more than in the previous December), with a value of £13.3 billion (2.9% more than in November and 3.7% more than in the previous December).

The number of cards in issue at end-December was 65,368,000, relating to 55,113,000 accounts, 64.8% of which were active, ie had a balance outstanding.

These data cover the world-wide transactions of UK resident holders of cards issued in the UK by all financial institutions affiliated to either the Visa or Mastercard organisations.

Source: BBA