Subscribe to The Money StopNews Feed

Browse > Home / News, News-Credit-Cards / Credit card companies to start targeting high earners again

Credit card companies to start targeting high earners again

January 19, 2010 by admin  
Filed under News, News-Credit-Cards

1 Comment

Whilst there has been something of a credit boom in the UK over the past decade, prior to this boom it was not unusual for credit card firms to focus only on wealthy, higher earners, leaving those on lower incomes out in the cold when it came to getting credit. In fact, seeing someone open a purse or wallet with a string of credit cards suggested that the person was well off and earned good money.

However, over more recent years credit card firms have been handing out cards to people from all walks of life, meaning that credit cards are no longer the status symbol that they once were and for many have simply become part of everyday life.

Since the onset of the global credit crunch in 2007 the credit boom in the UK has come to an end, and like other financial sector the credit card industry has become far more restrictive when it comes to giving out credit to consumers. Many have tightened up their rules with regards to lending, and have put far more stringent regulations into place, which has once again pushed those with lower incomes and those with damaged credit out into the cold.

There are now suggestions that many credit card firms could once again start focussing more on high earning individuals, as they did before the credit boom, which could see the humble credit card become a status symbol once again. A study was carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers suggesting that over the next few years market conditions could result in credit card and annual fees increasing, leading to only higher earning consumers being able to afford to use the cards.

Sandra Quinn from APACS said that credit cards had stopped being a status symbol when the credit boom resulted in more people having a credit card than not. She said: “We reached a point when more people had a credit card than didn’t and when the number who had more than one outweighed the number who had none. That was when they stopped being a status symbol.”

Tags: credit, Payment systems, Credit history, Sandra Quinn, interest rates, Credit Cards, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Tags:

Related Entries

  • Talent will be forced abroad due to 50p tax
    • Following the recent budget, where the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, announced that those on a certain level of income would be charged a new, higher tax rate, some industry officials have expressed concern that the new
  • Credit card rates will have to come down
    • In a recent report a leading consumer watchdog groups has said that credit card interest rates in the UK are going to have to come down. Officials have said that at the moment, whilst the
  • Borrowers could get help from credit card firms
    • According to recent reports some consumers could get assistance from credit card companies if they are struggling with their credit card debt, as part of a package of proposed measures resulting from recent meetings between
  • Consumer group wants investigation into calculation of credit card interest
    • The UK consumer group, Which?, has demanded an investigation into how credit card companies calculate the interest to be paid on cards, claiming that many companies are using a wide range of methods to calculate
  • Government bans credit card cheques
    • The government has recently updated credit card regulations and put a ban on credit card cheques being sent out to consumers by credit card companies. The move comes as the government and regulators try and
  • Credit card companies ‘exploit customers’
    • Many credit card providers are using the order of repayment to make extra money out of the customer, new research has found.When users are paying off debt in small repayments, card companies are directing the
  • Make 2011 the time to get a better credit card deal
    • Whilst many people in the UK are on poor credit card deals, with high rates of interest and little to nothing in the way of benefits, many fail to take any action such as switching
  • New rules set to come in for credit card companies
    • The start of 2011 will see new rules come into force for credit card providers, which will means that changes will have to be implemented with regards to minimum repayments on credit cards as well

Comments

One Response to “Credit card companies to start targeting high earners again”
  1. Emily T says:
    January 28, 2010 at 9:33 pm

    I think it would be unfair for credit card companies to start focussing more on high earning individuals again. In my opinion, everyone should be able to get the credit they deserve. If people with lower income cannot get credit cards, then their credit could suffer as credit cards (revolving credit) help to build and improve credit history (if used responsibly, that is).

    Thanks!
    Emily

Speak Your Mind

Tell us what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!