280 million credit card cheques sent to UK consumers this year

280 million credit card cheques have been sent to over 14 million UK consumers this year, according to a recent report.

USwitch has found that credit card companies sent 280 million credit card cheques to their customers. 97% of these cheques were unsolicited, however 3.2 million were actually used by the recipients.

The interest charges for credit card cheques is around 10% higher than for standard credit cards and an additional 2.5% handling boosts the costs of these cheques further.

The higher charges associated with credit card cheques provides a lucrative income for card providers who have earnt an estimated £571 million this year.

As consumers find it increasingly difficult to arrange unsecured loans as lenders tighten up their loan criteria, many credit card customers are using cheques to consolidate their debts or even pay their utility bills.

Those who receive unsolicited credit card cheques with their monthly statements and who do not wish to use them should shred them, rather than throw them into the paper collection or bin, to avoid their unauthorised use.

MoneyHighStreet.com has published an article about the good, bad and ugly sides of credit card cheques which highlights the high costs and pitfalls in using this form of borrowing.