On 04-Mar-12 02:51, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 14:45:38 on Sat, 3 Mar 2012,
Stephen Sprunk remarked:
Pretty much everyone qualifies for a credit card, at least in the US.
Those with poor credit scores get a low limit and high interest rate,
but they can still get a card. If nothing else, they can get a
"secured" credit card. (That type of card may be unique to the US.)

Last time I looked into this, about half the UK's adult population is
regarded as "not credit worthy". Although it's easier to get store
credit, mail order catalogue credit, and "Hire purchase credit" for
durable items, than a credit card for general use.

That's how it was in the US until our banks figured out that high-risk
customers were more profitable, on average, than low-risk customers.

This was around the same time the same banks changed from fearing people
wouldn't pay off their mortgages to fearing they _would_: foreclosure
was much more profitable than lending money at low rates to people who
always pay their bills on time.

A lot of credit card holders use them in effect as charge cards, as a
substitute for the "monthly credit" that the middle classes used to get
from tradesmen.

I've never heard of "monthly credit", but I'm young enough that I got my
first credit card at 15. OTOH, if you look at my credit report, I've
had one account open since before I was born

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking