Credit bureau Veda Advantage has said that the New Zealanders have continued to stop usage of credit cards. This is happening since they want to first pay back their debts and then go for fresh credit.

CEO of John Roberts said that it is the credit appetite of the consumers this is down and they are currently consolidating their debts and mainstream bank accounts. He also believes that this is the first time in the last 20 years that the trends with the consumers have changed. This ‘radical change’ is lending the way the markets are working.

The fall in consumer credit has gone down by as much as 30 per cent in the last three years. The fall is also in the credit inquiry segment as well.

Credit inquires too had gone down by 11 per cent by the end of August and the default rates were as high as 9 per cent during the same time. For the time between July and March, the credit risk profile of the people had gone down by 12 per cent.

This is not good news for the banks and financial institutions of the country.