Cashless shopping: The boom in credit

Credit cards are in the news again. In 1986 there was a rise of 14% in the amount of outstanding consumer credit, more than three times the rise in prices and double the rise in earning. Credit advanced in March 1987 was at a record level of £3.2bn. And retailer credit cards are doing excellent business. This feature looks at the background to the credit card explosion and then examines, in detail, the latest recruit to the fold, the Co‐op VISA card. We also take a look at the Connect card story, and conclude with a summary of the RMDP survey on retailers' attitudes to EFTPoS.