Most people in the UK have credit cards they never use
Published On 26 September 2007
The typical person from the UK currently has two credit cards, new research indicates.Data gathered by Abbey indicates that the average number of credit cards that a British consumer holds is two, but that 22 per cent of people have three or more.
Furthermore, people generally have between one and two cards which they have not used at all in the last year.
Abbey's research also found that 20 per cent of people said that a cash back feature was the thing they looked for first when applying for a new credit card. Other popular features included a low ARP (16 per cent), shopping discounts (six per cent) and Airmiles (four per cent).
"Unless a person is using all of their credit cards, many don't want to keep them up and running," explained Roger Lovering, managing director of Santander Cards.
"In the current climate, people are becoming more and more savvy about the impact numerous cards have on their credit rating, and a significant number of cardholders are now looking to consolidate all their credit cards."
Figures from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) revealed that credit card borrowing dropped by £100 million in August.
