Cash, Cars and Babes

The amount of credit cards which are now avaiable with 0% balance transfers are reducing in numbers.

According to moneyexpert.com, there has been a 7% fall in the number of firms offering such a deal, with 75% offering them, instead of 82% this time last year.

This means that customers who have been managing their debt by surfing their credit cards won't be able to do it for much longer.

The introductory period for 0% balance transfer deals is also dropping - the average now being 9.5months.

According to a recent survey, 18,000 credit card applications are being rejected every day by banks, due to fears over rising debt. The crunch has forced lenders to toughen their lending criteria to protect profits.

In the last 6 months, an approximate 3.24million applications have been refused. Barclaycard seem to be the major firm choosing to reject applicants in their bid to limit their exposure to bad payers. Other companies are cutting spending limits and upping charges and interest rates.

The survey also found that one in 14 adults had an application rejected in the past 6 months. These rejections could be due to a credit check, revealing a CCJ, or even a missed payment on your phone bill. To add to this, credit rejections could affect your likelihood of borrowing money in the future, for such things as a mortgage.

It has also been found that 1.8million people have had their credit limits slashed in the last 6 months, typically being reduced by £500 or less. However, 15% of those affected saw drops of £2500 or more.

Consumers in the UK are struggling with their credit card payments, yet 40% admit they are reliant on them, reported a study conducted by the Post Office.

It was also found that 25% of respondents are more reliant on credit than a year ago.

If people struggle to pay their credit card repayments, why do they use them? Surely the sooner you pay the credit card debt off, the better your money would improve? Saying that, I still have a credit card debt. But I don't add to it, the card was cut up ages ago. I just have the payments to make, which will eventually clear it. But at least I'm not reliant on it anymore.