§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what recent representations she has received from consumer bodies about credit card cheque books; [116002]
(2) what discussions she has had with the credit card industry about differential charging and fee structures for the use of credit card cheque books issued to customers. [116717]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonBoth Citizens Advice and the Office of Fair Trading—representing consumer bodies—raised concerns about the use of credit card cheques in the discussions of the Task Force on Tackling Overindebtedness. The Task Force also included the British Banking Association, the Finance and Leasing Association and the Consumer Credit Association representing the credit industry.
532WAmong the topics addressed, differential charging and fee structures were dealt with as a part of the work carried out on the transparency of information that should be provided to consumers.
The results of all of these discussions can be found in their second report to me, published 30 January 2003, which is available in the Libraries of the House.