The United Kingdom has been reporting that their credit card debts are beginning to lower, but this is not true of all areas. Scotland, unlike the rest of the UK, has been suffering from rising credit card debts. A recent study showed the average person in Scotland has credit card debt at £6600 when combined with other unsecured loans. This is up by over £1600 since April.
Scotland is now suffering more financially than the rest of the UK. It was found that 64 percent of Scots do not have a repayment plan for their debts. 79 percent haven’t told their partner about the credit card debt that they have. Scotland has now been ranked as the third highest average level of credit card debt in the UK. Northwest England is the highest, with east England in second place.
Several experts believe it is not only the credit card holder who has not been responsible, but also the credit card companies. They are urging the companies to be stricter regarding who can get a credit card, and to make changes to get the debts under control.
CEO of Guardian Financial Group stated that they are shocked at the level of personal debt, especially the amount that is on credit cards. With only 23 percent of credit card holders telling their partners about their debt, something is very wrong.
Credit card companies are the ones to determine risk of allowing a person to have a credit card. They must be more regulated in assessing the risk. Upping the interest rates is not penalising the credit card holders in the right way. Instead it just makes it more difficult to pay the debts down. The rates are increasing disproportionately, especially in the last six months. Experts urge for a better solution.
