Brits juggling many credit cards

Brits juggling many credit cards

According to a recent report many Brits are juggling multiple credit cards and continuing to get themselves into debt despite the credit crunch and despite the financial woes that many households are facing due to higher energy, food, petrol, and mortgage costs.

Figures show that over three million Brits have five or more credit cards that they are spending on, and this could simply add to the already massive personal debt problem in the UK.

Although financial markets are in turmoil and credit conditions are tight due to the global credit crunch many Brits are continuing to spend way above their means.

A third of Brits are said to have applied for another credit card over the past year, and those that have been turned down due to difficult credit conditions will also have adversely affected their credit profiles.

There are already concerns over the amount of personal debt in the UK, with industry officials expecting an increase in the number of people that will become insolvent over the course of the year.

One industry official said that getting another credit card is fine if it is to reduce debt – for example getting a 0% balance transfer card to save money on interest on existing credit card balances – but he said that consumers that are simply accruing credit card debt could hit problems in the future.

He said: ‘It is entirely healthy if people are swapping debts from one card to another, taking advantage of 0% deals to ensure that they pay as little interest as possible. But anyone who is trying to juggle five or more credit cards and owes money on all of them is in real trouble.’