£17 billion credit 'lent without proof of income', says uSwitch

Millions of people have applied successfully for credit cards without being asked to prove the income they stated, according to uSwitch.com.

The price comparison and switching service found that 4.8 million card applicants received over £17 billion of credit in the last 12 months without having to provide so much as a wage slip.

Of those surveyed, five per cent lied about their salary, adding as much as 70 per cent to their income and securing over £693 million of credit.

And 77 per cent of those surveyed (4.4 million) got their card from an institution other than their own bank, which would have little or no information about their credit history.

The prediction from uSwitch.com was that 6.6 million credit card applications will be rejected in the next 12 months.

Simeon Linstead, head of personal finance at uSwitch.com[,] said the credit squeeze was causing some people to lie about their salaries in "sheer desperation" and urged banks to tighten credit checks.

The Times reported shadow chancellor George Osborne telling the annual conference of consumer group Which? that it was important not to let Britain become "hooked on debt".

He reportedly told the conference that personal debt increased in Britain by £1 million every four minutes.

source moneynews.co.uk

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