Consumers continue to pay off credit card debt

A total of £400m of credit card debt was repaid over the last month.

Meanwhile, household savings rose £12.3bn over the last month, the highest increase since May.

Alistair McQueen, Head of Savings and Retirement at Aviva, says: “This latest data indicates how consumers are behaving in ‘lockdown 2’ in comparison to ‘lockdown 1’.

“A reduction in the use of consumer credit and another increase in savings suggests many are bracing themselves for further economic uncertainty.

“This more muted response is a worrying insight into the economic challenge being felt by many households through the pandemic. Unlike the first lockdown in Spring, many are now less able to reduce debt and increase saving like they did before.

“We know times are tough. But this data provides insight into just how tough.”