Credit Cards - Ten Terrible Truths
March, 12, 2008
We are a nation in debt, and with the cost of living rising experts fear more people will turn in desperation to their plastic for ‘help’.
SaveBorrowSpend brings you Ten Terrible Truths about credit card debt in the UK.
1. One in ten credit card holders (that’s around 3.5 million people) only pay back the minimum payment necessary on their cards each month.
2. Outstanding credit on cards stood at £65 billion in December 2007.
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3. There are more credit cards issued in the UK than there are people (a mind blowing 65 million cards).
4. The average interest rate on credit cards is about 6% above the base rate.
5. A third of couples lie to their partners about how much they spend on their credit cards.
6. One in ten people have resorted to taking out another credit card to pay off the debt accrued on an old one. (At least that means 9 in 10 of us haven’t done this!).
7. Over a million households in the UK have even used their credit card to pay mortgage or rent repayments in the past year.
8. Manchester has the dubious title of the UK’s Debt Capital, closely followed by Glasgow and Nottingham. The people of the Scilly Isles and the affluent London borough of Richmond upon Thames have the least debt.
9. People between the ages of 35-64 are the highest users of plastic.
10. Fraudulent use of credit and debit cards amounted to losses of £535 million last year. When it comes to overseas credit card fraud the statisticians say you are most likely to fall victim to this in Turkey, France, Spain and the USA.
News: Britain's penchant for plastic
SaveBorrowSpend Philippa Adam
