Britons 'generally wise with credit cards'

About half of Britons with credit cards pay them off in full every month, claims the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS).

However, while most people are wise about how they repay their credit about four per cent to eight per cent get into situations of unmanageable debt.

Of those that do, only half of them get into the circumstance through "misuse" of debt, with the other half suffering as a consequence of unforeseeable events such as sudden illness or job loss.

Frances Walker, spokesperson for CCCS, made it clear that the best way to deal with credit card debt is to clear the balance every month, instead of the bare minimum.

She said: "If you borrow £2,000 on the average credit card, never borrow another penny… and just pay the minimum amount, it’s going to take you 20 years to clear that."

Credit is something people have to learn to manage properly but she suggested that wherever credit exists there will always be people who are overstretched.

However, she did not blame lenders, noting that their practices were improving, noting that last year credit card borrowing grew only one per cent.