Demand for payday loans nearly tripled over the 2011 Christmas period compared to the year before, a payday lender has revealed.
Speedeloans said it made nearly three times as many loans over the festive period as it had the year before.
Despite the rising demand, the lender said its average customer had 30% less debt in December 2011 than the average customer in December 2010 – which it said suggested Brits spent the last year cutting down debts.
Average customer debt was down from £8,559 in December 2010 to £5,596 in December 2011, according to figures compiled by the firm, which said these debts were not related to payday loans.
Gary Miller-Cheevers, chief executive of speedeloans, said: “This may suggest that after a long, hard year of scrimping and saving, people were sticking their fingers up at the recession and decided they were going to celebrate Christmas properly.”
The figures also revealed that compared with December 2010, the average payday loans customer was earning 3% more in December 2011 and had a better public credit score, suggesting they were a less risky prospect to lend to.
“This data seems to indicate that despite the recession, people are overall earning more and having less debt – all positive signs,” Miller-Cheevers added.
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