Budget response: more needs to be done as demand for credit is up

“We’ve seen considerable growth in demand for credit over the last year, with card enquiries up 48% from August 2021 to August 2022, which indicates that people are resorting to credit cards to fund the rising cost of living. As well as this, our recent research showed that 55%* of people don’t know how they’ll cope with rising costs.

“Though it’s not the answer to the crisis, today’s announcement from the government will come as a small relief for many. Any savings made as a result could help towards people’s essential costs, and perhaps reduce the amount they’re spending on credit to make ends meet.

“More needs to be done though. Our research also showed that 51% of people don’t know how to access cost of living support, yet 69% would find it useful. That’s why we launched our cost of living calculator this year, to help people get a clearer view of how increasing costs could impact their finances.”

* Vanquis commissioned Opinium to survey 2,000 UK adults in August 2022

Fiona Anderson, Managing Director of Cards at Vanquis