The British love affair with credit cards

When it comes to credit cards it seems that we Britons cannot get enough of them. Our love of spending however is causing a huge debt problem and whilst it was thought that our love of credit cards was slowing down earlier on in the year, now it seems it has dramatically sped up again.

It is even thought that some adults have access to around £20,000 worth of credit. This is obviously very dangerous levels of credit and the result is likely to be a huge mountain of debt. Even if you can borrow £20,000, it does not mean that you can make the repayments as many lenders frequently lend money that the consumer cannot repay. Generally the credit limit which most people have access to is £2,000. However it does all vary depending upon personal circumstances.

The trend with credit card spending seems to mainly involve older people. Surprisingly younger people do tend to be a little more responsible with the money that they have. Also lenders seem to only lend a smaller amount of money to younger people and so the debt levels that they get themselves into are not usually that bad.

So just why do we have a love affair with credit cards? It seems that today’s society expects you to have a credit card and living entirely off credit is an acceptable way of life these days. It is much more common for people to be in debt with their credit cards than it is for them to actually have the money to pay for whatever it is that they want.

The trouble is that credit cards have been so easy to get hold of. Lenders are now becoming tougher with consumers and many are actually being turned away for credit if they do not fit the right criteria. However, for many people this move is all too little too late and Britons do have a big problem with debt and living on credit.

Overall with Christmas coming up, it is once again set to be a very busy period for credit card companies and in the New Year we will no doubt see the results of credit card frenzy.