Credit Card Statistics For The UK

There are more than 45 million credit card users in the UK and around 11.7 million customers were victims of a credit card heist in March 2007. In the heist, 45.7 million credit card and debit card records were stolen. This incident is a complete breach of security and spells DANGER in bold. As an existing or prospective credit card customer, you need to be more cautious now.

There are hundreds of credit cards offered in the UK, and the list is always becoming ever so big. So how can you really decide which card to choose? The truth is that it varies from individual to individual due to the nature of requirement or need. Before you start your search for a credit card, you need to ask yourself: What do I want to use my credit card for? There are three possible answers:

• You want to use it for purchases
• You want to use it as a source of income in between paydays
• You want to use it to pay off non-credit card debts or other credit card debts

If you are thinking of picking up a credit card in UK to pay off debts then we suggest you don’t go ahead because they have not been created as a debt solution. So that leaves us with increasing purchasing power and acting as a source of income.

Almost, all credit card companies have created the credit card to enhance your buying power as well as make money. Basically when you make a purchase, you are taking credit from a company, which has to be paid back with interest. So when you start your search for a credit card in the UK, there are some specific factors that you need to keep in mind:

Interest Free Period: Look for a credit card that offers an interest free period. This way, there will be no interest incurred during a specific period only if you are able to pay back the balance in full at the end of every month.

Incentives

• Most credit card companies offer incentives to attract customers. Some card companies advertise a 0% purchase offer. This means that all your purchases will be interest free for a particular period.

• Then there are cash-back schemes where you will get back a certain percentage of your spend in a month as cash. This is an extremely attractive offer for those who can repay all or a part of the balance each month.

Some of the credit card companies offer Card reward schemes. The reward schemes normally carry reward points, which can be redeemed in cash or in kind. You can redeem reward points by buying items from the company catalogue, or get a discount on various services. Reward schemes are quite useful especially if you travel a lot. The balance transfer deals in the UK credit cards will allow you to transfer your debt from one card to another. So these are some of the important things to compare in UK credit cards before you actually decide on a particular card.