UK consumers have shown no let up in their passion for taking on debt according to new figures from the British Bankers' Association (BBA).

New figures showed that unsecured lending rose by �1.1bn last month to �80.9bn, while mortgage lending rose by �3.9bn to �387.8bn.

But there are signs that people are becoming more sophisticated in who they borrow from.

Credit card borrowing saw a big rise, but a lot of this was down to consumers transferring-in balances from elsewhere to take advantage of cheap introductory offers.

High Street fightback

Credit card borrowing rose by �352m in February, with nearly a third of the increase put down to balance transfers.

"February's data show that credit cards, apart from day-to-day spending, can provide cheaper debt finance for consumers through balance transfer offers," said BBS chief executive Ian Mullen.

"As consumers seek to minimise borrowing costs, they are taking advantage of the range of options available," he added.

The data suggests that the main High Street banks are winning business back from newer entrants to the market.

The BBA figures cover lending by the Major British Banking Groups (MBBG) who account for about 70% of lending in the UK and include most of the traditional banking names.

In recent years they have faced greater competition from US banks targeting the UK market and new banks like Egg, who have offered enticing deals to lure customers.

But the BBA said the rise in credit card balances held by the MBBG showed that the old High Street names were beginning to win back custom.

Housing market still healthy

The rate of increase in mortgage lending slowed slightly in February, climbing �3.88bn after allowing for redemptions and repayments, down from a rise of �4.04bn.

But the BBA said the figures were unlikely to signify a slowdown in the housing market.

"Though February saw seasonally weaker mortgage lending, we expect stronger lending in the coming months, as the volume of loans approved for house purchase was noticeably higher in February," Mr Mullen said.