New research has found that credit card companies are increasing the limit on customers' plastic in order to squeeze more interest out of them.
Conducted by uSwitch.com, the report shows that the average credit card holder saw an unrequested increase of £1,538 made available to them in the last year, causing interest to rise from £800 to £1,040.
The website warned that, while increasing credit card limits could stop consumers incurring extra charges when they spend too much, the balances are increased without the customer's permission.
Louise Bond, personal finance expert at uSwitch.com, said: "Unless you are one of the 68 per cent of consumers that regularly pay their credit card bill in full, keeping high levels of debt on interest-bearing credit cards isn't advisable as it's an expensive form of borrowing ."
Recent research by Tescocompare.com found that consumers in the UK are being more frugal with their credit cards by cutting back on their spending, saving an average of just under £100 a month.
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Credit card companies offer unwanted cash, says uSwitch.com
Thu, 02 Jul 2009
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