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Showing posts from December 23, 2005

Credit card debt catches up with Britons

By Cesar G. Soriano, USA TODAY USAToday.com - London : "This Christmas season, the hottest-selling gifts in Europe are pricey American products such as iPods, the Xbox 360 and celebrity-inspired fashions. That kind of shopping has led to a very American problem: credit card debt." Nationwide, 34% of Britons say they will use credit cards or store cards to pay for their holiday purchases this year. And one in five say they are still paying off their gifts from last Christmas, according to a December poll by Zopa, an online lending agency. "The UK has adopted the American habit of credit with vigor, and consequently consumers are rapidly getting in over their heads," says Steve Rhode, president of Myvesta.org, a non-profit, debt-relief group. In August, U.S.-based Myvesta opened an office in Britain to deal with the growing number of Britons in debt. The number of people filing for bankruptcy or insolvency in England and Wales rose 46% from 2004 to 2005 to a record, a