Credit card limit trap to be stopped

It seems we can finally say goodbye to those pesky letters inviting you to increase your credit limit when you really don’t need it and didn’t ask for it. You know the ones? They seem to come in the mail when you need the cash but you know you really shouldn’t be jacking your debt up any higher.

New rules preventing banks from making unsolicited approaches from offering credit card limit increases will be banned after the passing of recent legislation and will come into effect from early 2019

Under the changes, banks will be banned from inviting customers to increase credit limits and will be forced to provide an online option to cancel cards or reduce credit. They won't be able to make unsolicited invitations to increase credit limits in writing, phone or online, even if you've previously opted to receive them. Providers will be required to assess the suitability of a credit card contract on the consumer's ability to repay the credit limit.

Recent figures show we are spending a little bit less on credit cards but there's still about $52 billion of debt is spread over 16.7 million cards. That's an average of $4730 for each card but the reality is, the debt is much higher for some card holders than others.