The worldwide credit crunch seems to be affecting all manner of things these days and it appears that it may have reached the world of credit cards.
If you are a credit card holder, you could face having your borrowing limits slashed as some card lenders try to prevent themselves from being exposed to bad debts.
This tightening of limits is now affecting some of you with good repayment history and comes amidst stricter controls on issuing cards to new borrowers.
Is it really the credit crunch?
The credit card companies say there has been no official change to the way they set limits for their customers and they are just performing their normal regular reviews of people's spending habits.
However, the credit reference agencies have reported a noticeable squeeze and say the card companies are reviewing their limits in a more detailed way. They also warned that card holders unable to provide enough profit for lenders now face seeing a reduction in the level of credit they are allowed.
James Jones, the consumer education manager at Experian, said:
"Most lenders are scrutinising customers' credit reports ever more closely and on a more frequent basis. Lenders are under pressure to avoid lending to people who can't afford to repay."
How is the credit crunch affecting credit cards?The financial comparison website Moneyfacts.co.uk said that in the past two months, the credit card market has had 125 fee and rate increases, and the worldwide credit crunch was beginning to cause "credit card chaos".
Another financial comparison website, MoneyExpert.com, said that over the past six months, credit card rejections jumped by 17% to £3.3 million.
Barclaycard, which is Britain's biggest credit card provider, now rejects around 55% of new applicants and has reduced credit limits for over 500,000 customers since the start of 2006.
Morgan Stanley is another of the card issuers who have drastically reduced their credit limits for many of its card holders, but this has also led to some people mistakenly having their limits cut.
So, have you experienced the crunch on your credit card and seen your spending limit reduced?
Why not let us know in the comments?
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