Millions aiming to cut credit card debts

Millions of British consumers are aiming to reduce the amount of credit card debt they have outstanding and the number of cards they use, according to recent research.

Figures from Abbey suggest that around 7.7 million Britons who spend money on plastic are planning to consolidate their debts by using a single card.

Currently, close to a quarter (22 per cent) of British adults have three or more credit cards and the typically plastic spender has at least one card that they have not used at all over the course of the past 12 months.

Roger Lovering, managing director of Santander Cards UK, said: “Unless a person is using all of their credit cards, many don’t want to keep them up and running.

“In the current climate, people are becoming more and more savvy about the impact numerous cards have on their credit rating and a significant number of cardholders are now looking to consolidate all their credit cards.”

Figures from the UK’s payment association Apacs show that the amount of money spent annually on plastic cards has seen a threefold increase over the past decade.