Almost three-quarters of people in the UK believe that access to credit cards is a basic right, it has been revealed.
Research carried out by the Better Banking Campaign found that 70 per cent of people believe everyone should have access to mainstream financial services such as bank accounts, loans, overdrafts and credit cards.
Some 62 per cent of the 1,000 people surveyed said they thought access to mainstream financial services for all should be an election issue for the main political parties in the forthcoming election, while 55 per cent said that financial services were 'essential' or 'very important' to everyday living.
Steve Wyler, a spokesperson for the campaign, commented: "We are not talking about lending for lending's sake, we're talking about responsible lending to people and businesses who want to get on."
Last week, figures published by price comparison website moneysupermarket.com indicated that credit cards are being used by 14 million consumers to meet the costs of their daily purchases.
