§ Mr. Nelsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is his estimate of the amount of credit available to and used by holders of credit cards issued by banks, financial and retail companies, respectively;
(2) how many credit cards are in circulation in the United Kingdom; and how many were issued by banks, financial and retail companies, respectively;
(3) what is the latest estimate of the number of individual and companies, respectively, who hold credit cards.
§ Mr. LawsonFor reasons of commercial confidentiality, lending by the main credit card companies is indistinguishably included in the published figures for bank lending to persons. Many of the credit cards and other running account credit schemes offered by finance houses and retailers will be financed indirectly by banks. There are no official estimates available of the total number of credit cards issued in the United Kingdom, or of652W the number in active use, although individual companies will on occasion release some details about their own business.
§ Mr. Nelsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will seek to ensure that credit card holders who entered into agreements before 1 July 1977 have the same protection as that afforded under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to those who entered into agreements after that date.
§ Mrs. Sally OppenheimI have been asked to reply.
The protection given to credit card holders who entered into agreements before 1 July 1977 is within the discretion of the companies, which have, however, following discussions with the Office of Fair Trading, accepted a liability to such card holders up to the amount of the transaction charged to the card holder's account.