UK credit-card defaults have worsened for six consecutive quarters—the first
sustained run since the 2008 global financial crisis—after the Middle East
conflict intensified financial pressure on households, the Bank of England's
latest survey showed. In the three months to September, the proportion of
lenders reporting rising credit-card default rates exceeded those reporting
declines by 26 percentage points; lenders expect defaults to rise further in Q4.
Defaults have increased for 18 months in a row, the longest stretch since
2008–09.
