DTI credit card cheque change “falls short”

Nick White, head of personal finance at consumer website uSwitch.com, said that the DTI announcement was “disappointing” and could go further to stop people getting into debt with credit card cheques.

“Today’s announcement by the DTI, following its investigation into credit card cheques, is disappointing and its timing should be questioned,” said Mr White.

“In reality, this falls short of what is required and the summary box will have little impact on the way that consumers use credit card cheques.”

Summary boxes introduced by the DTI will see credit card cheques give information about loan rates, charges and legal details.

However, Mr White said that this is not an “adequate solution” to the debt that people can run up with credit card cheques and wants a ban on sending unsolicited cheques and stricter laws.

Consumer minister Ian McCartney said that he felt that the new guidelines would help consumers but stated that the DTI would review the situation if improvements are not as anticipated.