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Millions miss credit card repayments - Times Online
More then five million credit card holders have missed at least one payment in the past six months, raising millions of pounds for the banks in penalty fees and giving lenders the green light to slash credit limits – or even cancel cards.
The number of people missing a payment soared to nearly 5.1 million in the second half of 2007 as the credit crunch hit home. That’s a jump of 920,000 on the 4.2 million missed payments recorded in the six months to June, according to research by the financial comparison site Moneyexpert.com.
The rise in credit card holders missing payments has meant a massive payday for credit card firms, which charge late payment fees of £12 a time. In the past six months alone they are estimated to have made around £61 million from the penalty charges compared with £50 million in the previous six months.
Sean Gardner, chief executive of Moneyexpert.com, said: “With even the Church of England offering debt advice from the pulpit under the its ‘Matter of life and debt’ campaign it’s clear that many people are living on a prayer and hoping for interest rate cuts to get them out of trouble. The effect of a payment can last as long as three years on your credit file and it will be used by firms to decide whether they’re going to lend you cash and what they’re going to charge.”
More then five million credit card holders have missed at least one payment in the past six months, raising millions of pounds for the banks in penalty fees and giving lenders the green light to slash credit limits – or even cancel cards.
The number of people missing a payment soared to nearly 5.1 million in the second half of 2007 as the credit crunch hit home. That’s a jump of 920,000 on the 4.2 million missed payments recorded in the six months to June, according to research by the financial comparison site Moneyexpert.com.
The rise in credit card holders missing payments has meant a massive payday for credit card firms, which charge late payment fees of £12 a time. In the past six months alone they are estimated to have made around £61 million from the penalty charges compared with £50 million in the previous six months.
Sean Gardner, chief executive of Moneyexpert.com, said: “With even the Church of England offering debt advice from the pulpit under the its ‘Matter of life and debt’ campaign it’s clear that many people are living on a prayer and hoping for interest rate cuts to get them out of trouble. The effect of a payment can last as long as three years on your credit file and it will be used by firms to decide whether they’re going to lend you cash and what they’re going to charge.”
