Sub-prime credit card applications rocket in autumn bounce back

● New credit card account openings down 60% since March lockdown
● Sub-prime applications jump 143% August to September
● Average credit card limit down by over £1,000

New credit card accounts plummeted following the start of the first UK lockdown, but potentially riskier sub-prime approvals have bounced back hardest, more than doubling since August 2020, according to data from the new Equifax Market Pulse series1.

The overall volume of new credit card accounts bottomed out in May, 86% below March levels when UK lockdown measures first began. The fall was sharpest among near-prime credit card accounts (91%), followed by prime and sub-prime (86% and 85% respectively). In September new accounts were down by 60% overall since March, with the highest drop in prime accounts, down by 82%.

Source: Equifax
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