Credit card cheque ban criticised
An expert has branded the government's proposed ban on credit card cheques unnecessary.
An expert has branded the government's proposed ban on credit card cheques unnecessary.
Sandra Quinn, director of corporate communications for payments association Apacs, told the Guardian that providers are already bound by industry guidelines to stop posting them if the cardholder requests this.
Ms Quinn added that recent statistics also suggest there is no evidence that credit card cheques cause "real financial hardship".
She explained: "Legislation should be proportionate to the problem it hopes to resolve.
"Yet figures from Apacs show that at the end of 2008 credit card cheques accounted for 0.18% of total consumer debt. Last year we spent £3.23bn using them, amounting to just 2% of all spending on credit cards."
The move to outlaw unsolicited credit card cheques was announced by Gordon Brown last week as part of plans for a new consumer rights law to clamp down on irresponsible lending.
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