A number of large credit card providers within the UK, have gradually limited the balances of their products in an attempt to restrict national consumer borrowing.
Recent data shows that as a collective, providers have limited credit card borrowing thresholds by more than 2.9 billion pounds since November 2007. In addition, close to 2 million “less reliable” card borrowers, have been specifically targeted by lenders having their balances severely restricted or facilities completely cancelled in the last few months.
Experts suggest that a wide scale apprehension from the lending community with regards to the financial health of their customers e.g. repayment ability, is almost certainly responsible for the change in lending criteria.
A leading British financial analyst commented that as mortgage / loan repayments, utility bills and general living costs continued to rise, fuelled predominately by the credit crunch, monetary lenders of all types will continue to tighten the buckles on their products as a means to hedge their bets.
