Fool.co.uk comments on alert for UK store card customers

Following news that UK store card customers will now be told on their statements if they can get a better deal elsewhere, David Kuo, Head of Personal Finance at Fool.co.uk, says: “This is a welcome move for consumers - the big stores have been milking unacceptably high interest rates for too long now.

“However, more can still be done to ensure that the horse is put before the cart and not, as it stands, the other way around. Consumers do need to be warned of what they are signing up for at the time of applying for a store card – it’s too late after they have incurred debts that they can’t afford.

“Although we can get serious financial headaches if we misuse store cards, they do suffer from bad publicity, and outfoxing the fox can be rewarding if we use store cards sensibly.

“A sensible way is to pay off balances on our cards in full, which means all the benefits and none of the downside whatever the interest rates charged.”