Consumers put the brake on credit card spending, but balances continue to track upwards

The latest UK credit card data from global analytics software leader FICO provides stark evidence that consumer financial confidence remains low. Whilst spending has followed the usual seasonal drop after Easter, the average active balance is 4.7% higher year-on-year, suggesting consumers are not able to clear as much of their credit card debt. The percentage of balance paid is also trending downwards year-on-year by 5.8%. Another critical sign of financial difficulty is the percentage of customers using credit cards to take out cash, which has increased month-on-month by 2.5%.

Highlights

Spending fell by 4.1% month-on-month and 1.7% year-on-year
Balances fell slightly compared to April, to £1,865 but remain 4.7% higher year-on-year
Percentage of overall balance paid has increased by 4.7% month-on-month to 35.6%, but is 5.8% lower year-on-year
Year-on-year, missed payments have fallen across all delinquency periods
The average balance on one missed payment accounts has increased 2.4% compared to April, and 7.2% year-on-year
Customers using credit cards to take out cash increased for the second month in a row, by 2.5%

FICO Comment

Sales tend to decrease after the Easter holidays, and FICO data shows that May 2025 was no exception. Spending fell by 4.1% month-on-month and 1.7% year-on-year, to an average of £790. However, with the percentage of overall balance paid dropping by 5.8% year-on-year, balances have risen by 4.7% compared to May 2024, which will be a concern for lenders.

Lenders will also want to keep a close eye on delinquencies, as May saw the erratic patterns of 2025 continuing. After the significant 22.1% drop in April 2025, May saw a 10.4% increase in the percentage of customers missing one payment. Year-on-year, there has been a 12.4% decrease. For customers missing two payments, there has been a 9.6% decrease month-on-month and 8.1% year-on-year. However, the percentage of customers missing three payments increased month-on-month by 3.9%.

When comparing the ratio of the average delinquent balance to the overall balance, this ratio is slightly trending upwards, indicating that missed payment balances are increasing at a faster rate. Lenders may wish to review balance segmentation in risk strategies, as goods and services that cost £2,000 in 2020 would cost £2,350 today. They may also want to consider adopting or reviewing pre-delinquency strategies in order to identify and proactively act on customers before they get into financial trouble.

Key Trend Indicators – UK Cards May 2025

Metric	Amount	Month-on-Month Change	Year-on-Year Change
Average UK Credit Card Spend	£790	-4.1%	-1.7%
Average Card Balance	£1,865	-0.4%	+4.7%
Percentage of Payments to Balance	35.59	+4.7%	-5.8%
Accounts with One Missed Payment	1.43	+10.4%	-12.4%
Accounts with Two Missed Payments	0.29	-9.6%	-8.1%
Accounts with Three Missed Payments	0.21	+3.9%	-6.0%
Average Credit Limit	£5,855	+0.2%	+2.9%
Average Overlimit Spend	£95	+3.3%	+5.6%
Cash Sales as a % of Total Sales	0.85	+2.3%	-3.7%
Source: FICO

These card performance figures are part of the data shared with subscribers of the FICO® Benchmark Reporting Service. The data sample comes from client reports generated by the FICO^® TRIAD^® Customer Manager solution in use by some 80% of UK card issuers. For more information on these trends, contact FICO.

About FICO

FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 200 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, insurance, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 80 countries do everything from protecting 4 billion payment cards from fraud, to improving financial inclusion, to increasing supply chain resiliency. The FICO® Score, used by 90% of top US lenders, is the standard measure of consumer credit risk in the US and has been made available in over 40 other countries, improving risk management, credit access and transparency. Learn more at www.fico.com.

FICO and TRIAD are registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and other countries.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250714023596/en/

For further press information please contact:
FICO UK PR Team
Wendy Harrison/Matthew Enderby
ficoteam@harrisonsadler.com
0208 977 9132

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