Credit Card Cheques (Hansard, 20 November 2003)

§ Mr. Sutcliffe

The Government believes the key to protecting consumers from the adverse effects of such practices as the unsolicited sending of credit card cheques is ensuring responsible lending—expecting the industry to carry out adequate checks before sending credit card cheques; and ensuring all information is adequate and transparent. We are not currently considering introducing measures to ban the unsolicited sending of credit card cheques. Our approach is to empower consumers to make informed decisions. To this end we will outline measures in the Consumer Credit White Paper to ensure responsible lending across the range of lending practices.

Any further action is best taken through industry codes of practice. The industry is introducing measures to ensure greater transparency in the issuing of credit card cheques, including the information provided to consumers; and I have asked my officials to work with the industry to examine what further measures are necessary to address the concerns raised by the Treasury Select Committee.