One bank offering credit cards to new customers
JUST one high street lender is offering credit cards to new customers in Guernsey.
Only HSBC is providing the service for new customers, with other lenders withdrawing from the market completely or only supporting existing customers, but refusing to increase spending limits.
Citizen Advice Guernsey’s John Stuart said that it was changes in the way data was verified that had led to lenders withdrawing from Guernsey over the last five years.
‘To steal a line from a comedy, this does seem to be a case of “computer says no”,’ he said.
‘All credit card providers are now big companies and use automatic verification to check their customers. You need to be on the UK electoral roll, and be able to be checked against county court records, all these systems are automated and if you live in Guernsey you can’t be found.’
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission said they understood the frustration of islanders who found it difficult to obtain credit cards but said this was not primarily a regulatory matter but rather one of scale of economies.
A commission spokesperson said: ‘Islanders will appreciate that low-margin products which may make economic sense for a financial institution with access to 65 million-plus potential customers in the UK may not make as good sense for an institution where the potential market is no more than 65,000 people.
‘That we have our own laws means that UK credit providers looking to establish the credit worthiness of applications using methods such as retail credit agencies, electronic electoral rolls and the legal process for debt collection find they face different laws involving slightly different processes in the Bailiwick. In situations where a credit card provider has taken a commercial decision not to offer a service, the GFSC does not have the ability to require the firm to do so.
Head of wealth and personal banking at HSBC Guernsey, Pete Turner, said the bank remained committed to offering a full banking proposition to local residents, including credit cards, but could not comment on the services provided by other banks in the island.
