Irish borrowers drew down a record number of car loans in the first quarter of 2026, as cost-of-living concerns failed to dent consumers’ debt appetite.Some 69,604 personal loans with a total value of €788 million were drawn down in the three months to the end of March, Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) said on Friday, up 14.5 per cent and 15.3 per cent in number and value respectively from the same period last year. It meant that, on a rolling annual basis, a record 281,814 personal loans were drawn down in the 12 months to the end of March. The total value of loans drawn down over that period exceeded €3 billion for the first time, the BPFI said. Ali Ugur, the banking lobby group’s chief economist, said the jump in borrowing activity was broad-based across all loan categories. A total of 22,366 car loans with a value of €296 million were drawn down in the first quarter, up 14.1 per cent and 14.4 per cent in volume and value terms. These were the “highest levels on record” since the BPFI began publishing the data in 2020, Ugur said.The number of home improvement loans increased by 12.8 per cent to 17,334, while the value of those loans was up by 15.4 per cent year on year to €229 million, according to the BPFI figures. [ Irish lenders to gain little from key part of EU banking competitiveness planOpens in new window ]A total of 29,905 loans were drawn down for other purposes – including holidays, weddings and education – up 15.7 per cent from the first quarter of last year and up 16.7 per cent in value terms to €263 million. “In annualised terms, there were 281,814 personal loans drawn down in the 12 months ending March 2026,” Ugur said. “These are the highest volumes since the data series began in 2020, while the value of personal loan drawdowns over the same period exceeded €3 billion for the first time, pointing to continued consumer confidence with many households seeking to invest in major life purchases.”Personal lending surged in 2025 against a backdrop of falling official interest rates, with the European Central Bank reducing its headline deposit rate from 3 per cent to 2 per cent in the first six months of the year.However, Frankfurt raised interest rates in June and is expected to do so again in September in response to rising inflation stemming from the US-Israeli war with Iran and its impact on energy markets. As a consequence, Irish consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in four years in April but has modestly picked up in recent months, according to the Irish League of Credit Unions’ consumer sentiment index. Separately, AIB has urged customers to be vigilant after noticing a 59 per cent spike in payment fraud attempts in July compared with recent months. “Fraudsters continue to adapt their tactics and are becoming increasingly convincing in the way they target customers,” said Harold Perez, head of fraud intelligence at AIB.“We are asking customers to ‘wait a sec, double check’, before acting on any unexpected request. A genuine organisation will never pressure you into making immediate decisions about your finances.”