IMGCAP(1)]
Five credit card issuers in the United Kingdom next month plan to start sharing more data about their cardholders in a scheme that could prevent some consumers from gaining access to more credit. The issuers will share data about the amount of their customers' last card payments and how those payments compared with minimum-repayment requirements. Other shared data will include the frequency and amount of cash advances customers make with their credit cards, changes to card credit limits, and information that helps determine whether cardholders are taking advantage of promotional interest rates. The issuers set to begin sharing the information include Barclaycard, Capital One, GE Money, HBOS and MBNA, according to British payments association APACS. The association expects other issuers to follow, though it gave no details about when that might happen. Revisions to the UK's banking code earlier this year prompted the increased sharing of credit card data, APACS says. Previously, issuers shared data about card balances, credit limits and whether customers made payments on time, the association says. Issuers will share the data through credit bureaus. "The initiative will give credit card issuers a fuller picture of a cardholder's borrowing habits to help them identify, at an earlier stage, customers who may be at risk from becoming over indebted," an HBOS spokesperson tells CardLine Global.
