Consumer credit applications grew by almost ten per cent in the December quarter, driven by a strong rise in personal loan applications.The latest Veda Quarterly Consumer Credit Demand Index, which measures credit card and personal loans applications, rose by 9.7 per cent in the December quarter, compared with the December quarter in 2014.Personal loan applications rose by 11.9 per cent and credit card applications rose by 7.5 per cent.The rate of growth in consumer credit applications is up from the September quarter, when it was 6.2 per cent, but down from the June quarter, when it was 9.9 per cent.Reserve Bank figures show that the actual level of personal debt has not risen over the past year. However, consumers have been encouraged to do some comparison shopping by credit card issuers offering particularly generous zero balance transfer offers and by new peer-to-peer and marketplace lenders entering the personal loan market.Veda's general manager of consumer risk Angus Luffman said the credit scores of borrowers approaching alternative lenders have been improving."If this trend continues it may be an indication that alternative lenders are becoming a more mainstream option for borrowers," Luffman said.Luffman said strong car sales growth was another factor helping drive the growth in personal loan applications.