‘Brits paying for chip and Pin ignorance’

More than 700,000 people who withdraw cash on their credit card could be worsening their debt management and credit card debt problems as they are unaware of the resulting charges, uSwitch figures suggest.

And this figure equates to around 11 per cent of all those who use their credit card to access cash, uSwitch reveals.

In addition, a full one million UK consumers mistakenly believed that as when withdrawing cash using a debit card, credit card providers do not levy a fee for the service.

Nick White, director of financial services at uSwitch, said: “The reality is that most people who use this facility are either unaware of the actual costs incurred, or are so desperate to get their hands on the cash that they don’t care how much it will cost them.”

Economic secretary to the Treasury Ed Balls last week described Britain’s debt management struggles as a “big challenge” facing the country.