FICO Data: Irish Card Sales Hit Two-Year High, While Late Payments Decline

LONDON—December 15, 2014—With the Christmas sales in full swing, new data from FICO (NYSE:FICO), the predictive analytics and decision management software company, shows positive signs about spending on credit cards in Ireland. The latest figures on UK credit cards from the FICO^® Benchmarking Service show that average total sales on cards issued in Ireland reached a two-year high in September of €778 per card, an increase of 9 percent compared with September 2013.

Veteran accounts (those five or more years old) had the highest average, at €791 per card. The ratio of monthly payment to balance reached 45 percent, also a two-year high. In another positive sign, the percentage of accounts that have missed two consecutive monthly payments fell to a two-year low.

“These trends give reason for cautious optimism,” said Stacey West, a Fair Isaac^® Advisors business consultant who works with UK card issuers. “They mirror the positive trends we have seen on cards overall in the UK. It will be interesting to see what effect the Christmas season has on spending and delinquencies.”

Although card spending is rising, interest income per account is dropping. For veteran accounts, interest income has fallen by 5 percent in each of the last two years. For the full set of active cards in the FICO consortium, this represents €2 per account in lost revenue for issuers.

"If time-bound, lower-interest balance transfer and purchase rates are impacting profitability, we recommend that issuers perform analysis to determine whether cardholders resume payment of interest income once the offers expire," West said. "Issuers may also want to create further incentives for cardholders, particularly those on books for a longer time, to increase their spending, which is turn will increase interest income."

About FICO^® Benchmark Reporting Service
The card performance figures are part of the data shared with subscribers of the FICO^® Benchmark Reporting Service, which compares overall market performance in the UK cards market with individual card issuers’ performance. The data sample studied represents 26 million accounts, or about half of all credit cards issued in the UK, and comes from client reports generated by the FICO^® TRIAD^® Customer Manager solution in use by most UK card issuers.

Card issuers that subscribe to the FICO Benchmark Reporting Service receive a quarterly review of their portfolio compared to the industry, with 24 months’ worth of data. For greater insight, subscribers can explore the data by vintage of accounts. For information on the FICO Benchmark Reporting Service, contact Stacey West at staceywest@fico.com.

Sobre FICO
FICO (NYSE: FICO) es una empresa líder de software de analítica que ayuda a negocios de más de 90 países a tomar mejores decisiones que incrementen el crecimiento, la rentabilidad y la satisfacción del cliente. El innovador uso de Big Data y de algoritmos matemáticos por parte de la empresa para predecir el comportamiento del consumidor ha transformado sectores enteros. FICO ofrece software de analítica y herramientas que se emplean en múltiples sectores para gestionar riesgos, combatir el fraude, crear relaciones con clientes más rentables, optimizar operaciones y cumplir con estrictas regulaciones gubernamentales. Many of our products reach industry-wide adoption. These include the FICO^® Score, the standard measure of consumer credit risk in the United States. Las soluciones FICO emplea estándares de código abierto y cloud computing para maximizar la flexibilidad, hacer despliegues más rápidos y reducir costes. La empresa también ayuda a millones de personas a gestionar su salud crediticia personal. FICO: Make every decision count™.

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