Half of Brits carry unused credit cards

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Half of Brits carry unused credit cards

Mon 21st Aug 2006

New research suggests that almost half (45 per cent) of UK adults carry at least one credit card they don't use, says Morgan Stanley.

And of those idle cards, the largest number (33 per cent) were picked up for a low introductory rate that has since expired, leaving the card unused.

Men are worse for collecting cards than women, with an average of 2.2 cards each compared with 1.9 for women, with an average of 0.9 inactive cards for every man and woman in the UK.

Patrick Muir, marketing director for Morgan Stanley, said: "There has been much speculation about the increasing use of plastic in the UK but our report shows that British cardholders are perhaps more savvy than they have been given credit for.

"Millions of cardholders are taking advantage of loyalty schemes for their everyday spending, with these cards least likely to be lying idle in wallets," he added.

The YouGov survey of 2,000 representative adults further found one in five (21 per cent) dormant cards were issued by the consumer's bank, suggesting some cards are received unwanted as part of a current account or other deal.

Credit card lending in the UK is falling according to new research from the British Bankers' Association, with a drop of £0.3 billion borrowed between June and July this year.

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