Credit card applications rise

According to the latest Veda consumer credit demand index, applications for credit cards rose seven per cent during the September quarter, compared with the same period last year.

Veda's general manager of consumer risk, Angus Luffman, said the September quarter was the sixth consecutive quarter of growth in credit card applications.

Luffman said: "Some of the demand has been fuelled by attractive offers by card providers."

Those offers include longer zero rate balance transfer periods. Comparison website Mozo reported that, until this year, most zero rate balance transfer offers were for six months or less, but now offers running for more than six months are more common.

The increase in credit card applications was offset by a ten per cent fall in the number of personal loan applications during the September quarter, compared with the same period last year.

In aggregate, credit card and personal loan applications were down 1.8 per cent in the quarter.