U.K. Consumers Are Swapping Credit Cards for Less Savings

(Bloomberg) -- British people may be using more of their savings to support purchases instead of their credit cards.

Unsecured personal credit, which includes items like personal loans and credit cards, increased by 817 million pounds ($1 billion) in July, half the pace of the previous month, the BOE said Thursday. Meanwhile, the annual gain in personal deposits slipped to 1.2 percent in July, the lowest level since records began in Oct. 2007, UK Finance reported last week.

The trend indicates a preference to use savings rather than credit to cover living costs. Britons are starting to spend more than they earn after the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union sank the value of the pound, which has made the increased cost of everyday items like groceries and fuel take up a larger chunk of U.K. salaries.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joshua Robinson in London at jrobinson37@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephen Foxwell at sfoxwell@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint, Mark Evans

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