Is the age of credit card finance for everyone now over?
While there has been much comment about the mortgage market and the loan market in the UK there has been little comment on what many see as the main problem with the UK, the credit card market. We have seen a period of over a decade in which credit cards have been made available for the masses, discount offers have been used to sweeten deals and credit has literally been made available to everyone over the age of 18 in the UK. But are those days now at an end?
There is every sign that the credit card boom which began in the 1990s is now over, banks are pulling in some of their loans, reducing limits and generally looking to put their houses back in order. The days of massive spending on credit cards are over and while some will mourn there will be many people rejoicing.
In reality the credit card industry has got more people into serious debt that any other financial service in the UK. In the boom years of the 1990s and early 2000s everyone was being offered a credit card, balances were rising but prosperity was high - nobody minded. But the last few months has seen a major rethink by the likes of Egg and a realignment of their business - not before time!
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