Credit card lenders urged to be honest

Credit card lenders operating in the UK have been urged to be honest with their customers about why they are having their borrowing limits cut or their accounts closed altogether.

Research by uSwitch.com has found that 1.6 million Britons have seen their credit limit reduced and 1.3 million have had their credit card account closed or had an annual fee put in place during the past 12 months.

In almost a quarter of these instances no reason for the action taken was forthcoming, which leaves people with credit card debt in an uncertain situation that is unjustified, according to the comparison firm.

“Credit card companies who are taking action to close down or make changes to customers’ accounts must be completely open about how and why they have selected those customers,” said uSwitch.com’s head of personal finance Simeon Linstead.

Last week, David Kuo, head of personal finance at Fool.co.uk, advised British consumers not to apply for credit card debt deals they were unlikely to be approved for.