Credit cards with low credit limits and high interest rates are increasingly popular among low earners in Britain, says a new study from Moneysupermarket.com.

Boom in high-interest cards for low earners

The research, conducted in April this year, used data from two million credit card enquiries made through the site’s Smart Search eligibility tool in 2016. It also shows a correlation between the popularity of high-interest cards, which the site called ‘credit-building cards’, and the amount of individuals’ incomes. The less a person earns, the study shows, the popularity of credit-building cards increases. It said for every £5,000 less a person earns each year, the popularity of credit-building cards increases by five percent. It added that these cards are available to those who can’t normally access mainstream credit. Moneysupermarket’s Smart Search tool shows consumers which credit cards they are most likely to be accepted for, after inputting some personal data, to avoid being declined on some applications which could damage their credit score. The study found that on a whole, credit card enquires increased by 28 percent last year, from around 2,900 people enquiring a day in 2015 to more than 3,700 in 2016.

Read more here