Credit card advertising ‘leading to debt’

According to Chris Tapp, associate director of Credit Action, advertising is a “major issue” as it tempts people to get into credit card debt.

“Advertising is a major issue. When it comes to credit cards, one thing we do see a lot of is this ‘cold-mailing’,” said Mr Tapp.

“You get people in difficult [financial] situations, and then something lands on the doorstep saying that they can borrow £5,000 – and that’s a very attractive offer if you’re struggling to make ends meet.”

According to him, 1.26 billion items of junk mail were sent out by banks and finance companies in 2005, or 27 letters per adult.

Mr Tapp said that this is a problem, especially as some of these mail shots could be from unregulated firms and thus be even more likely to create excess credit card debt.