The credit crunch is a little different to previous incarnations of economic slowdowns in that it has hit the consumer much harder and much earlier on in its development. The amount of personal borrowing against credit cards and the lenders' response to this particular crisis may have a great deal to do with that early-doors impact. A survey by the financial information analysts Moneyfacts has found that at least 10% of credit cards have raised their interest rates or fees as a direct result of the economic storm now battering UK PLC.
The average interest rate on credit cards has risen from 16.8% to 17.2% in three months. This raise is in direct opposition to the Bank of England's base rate cut of 1.5%, bringing the base rate down to 3% in an attempt to boost the ground level economy and stave off inflation. As lenders realise that the financial pot is nearly empty, they're manoeuvring their positions to ride out the storm as best they can. Their concern is that the early impact the crunch has had on consumers means a greater risk of customers defaulting on payments. The interest rate rise on credit cards is seen as a preventative measure against any increased exposure to bad debt by the lenders.
As the dominoes started to fall in the banking industry, lenders lost faith with their former partners and in their customers' ability to pay back loans and credit card debts. The system relies on continuous injections of consumer cash in the form of interest payments to keep working. As borrowing from other financial institutions has become much harder, the only way for lenders to raise capital is to increase the interest charges on credit cards, loans, credit agreements and mortgages. This ground-shift signifies an end to the 'live now, pay later' mentality of the 1980's and 1990's. The good times really could be over - for a short time, anyway. But by readjusting their positions, the lenders may actually be doing the right thing, and not giving in to 'quick fix' solutions like rate cuts. A more pragmatic approach to the system means that credit cards still offer great deals - they're just a little more careful to avoid lending to customers that may already have problems.
From 1997 until 2007, the lenders were having a boom time in the UK. But the credit crunch wasn't the only thing that seemed to stop the good times in their tracks. An increasingly competitive marketplace, the emergence of economic superpowers like China and India, increasing bad debts and government legislation all contributed to the lenders reassessing their financial positions. Some companies responded by 'dumping' thousands of customers who were seen as non-profit clients - the people who paid off their balance in full each month and incurred minimal interest charges. All lenders have tightened up their criteria for lending, including restricting credit limits, imposing higher fees on balance transfers and limiting access to cash withdrawals. Although this may seem like a further indication that things are getting worse, it could actually be the right move - stabilising the credit market and reducing the possibility of credit card customers borrowing more than they can afford to pay back. The credit card lenders may actually lead the way in market recovery by this simple readjustment of open lending policy.
The credit card industry has been hit twice. The loss of the overall market share several years before resulted in a clamour for customers, with 0% balance transfers acting as financial carrots to customers wanting to reduce their interest payments on outstanding balances. Cards are now shifting towards a policy of charging up to 3% balance transfer fees to try to pull back some of the lost profit that the 0% offers cost them. The second blow was the Office of Fair Trading's decision in 2006 to cap penalty charges to 12. Now cards are lining up for another bureaucratic blow as the Complaint's Commission takes a closer look at the personal protection insurance schemes that often accompany credit card deals.
The continuing economic slowdown could really start to impact on jobs in the next 12 months, with unemployment set to climb. This is making the credit card lenders even more nervous, as the prospect of more people defaulting on their payments because of the loss of primary income increases the card lender's exposure to more 'bad debt' risk. All of this seems to imply that the era of the friend in your wallet is over, but that's not strictly true. What has happened is a readjustment of the marketplace, making it more stable for lenders and borrowers to maintain a safe position. Credit cards may have stricter approval criteria than in the boom times of the 1990's, but it also means that a more responsible approach to lending has been adopted, and that can only be a good thing.