Callcredit: Collapse of Bear Stearns bank

Melanie Mitchley, Director at Callcredit said; “The current focus on the emergency rescue of US investment bank Bear Stearns should be a real wake-up call to British consumers. People need to start thinking about how the reality of the Credit Crunch is going affect their own financial situation.

“Since the Northern Rock crisis and the signs of a troubled economy, a quarter of all UK consumers have become more concerned about their finances and understandably, their confidence has been shaken. This latest development is an opportunity to encourage all consumers who both save and borrow to assess their current financial health, and crucially, not take on additional credit they can’t afford. In an attempt to avoid debt, consumers need to move away from the ‘buy now, pay later’ attitude and move towards the ‘save now, buy later’ mentality. Taking a few simple steps such as reviewing a copy of their credit report will allow consumers to take control of their own financial futures.”