Banks will share additional information about credit card customers

Banks have recently revealed that they plan to share more detailed information about credit card applicants and customers in a bid to cut down on a number of problems. However, officials have said that the way in which lenders will share more detailed information could make it more difficult for some to get a credit card and would most likely make switching between credit cards more difficult.

Banks have decided that they will share more detailed information about credit card customers and applicants, and this will allow them to check on things such as how much the balance is on any existing cards, any credit limit changes that have taken place, whether the customer only makes minimum repayments on the card, and other factors.

The reason behind the decision by lenders to take this action is so that they can exercise responsibly lending more easily and effectively, and to ensure that they are not lending out to people that are in risk of getting into unmanageable debt. Also, of course, it is to minimise the risk of default for themselves.

One industry official said: ‘While the increased levels of data sharing may prevent some cases of customer over-indebtedness, it also gives lenders the ability to pick and choose customers and decline applications from non profitable ‘rate tarts’, who constantly move their borrowing to 0% deals.’