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It was noted in Chapter 2 (Section 2.6.) that credit was rarely used by households in the 1940s and 1950s during the period of austerity for fear of it leading to serious debt. The introduction o f credit cards in the late 1960s and early 1970s encouraged the use o f credit as a means of obtaining more consumer goods than would normally be affordable fi*om an

employment income. Respondents were asked if they could recall when they first used credit cards and also about their current use of them.

Barbara Thompson, cohort 3, remembered the first time that she had used a credit card and reflected the conflict that many other respondents felt between ‘good’ money management and the use of credit.

Barbara Thompson: The first time - oh this is sad - the first time I bought groceries in a supermarket with a Visa. I felt so guilty because you were buying it - you were buying it on hire vurchase.lrespondents emphasis\ You were buying it on tick, [laughs]. N o w , of course I use it all the time, use it all the time, but I can remember it was the old (pause)I think I have a really heavy inbuilt thing about how money ought to be spent - you know how you shouldn’t be beholden to anyone. (CFl 1-3)

The Thompsons were also quite late in their careers when they started to use credit cards

Kenneth Thompson: Sometime around about 1995,1 suppose we started to use them more, presumably because the sense of opprobrium about them had slipped away, and I suppose now we use credit cards probably around twenty times a month. (CM 11-3)

They used a credit card for its convenience but felt strongly about not using the credit facility. B arbara Thompson: But we do pay it off.

Kenneth Thompson: We’ve always paid it off. W e’ve never ever consciously not paid it off. (CMl 1-3)

Helen Young, in cohort 3, had difficulty in recalling her first use of a credit card. Her account reflects the way that its use has become part of household management for most respondents, but it was not generally used until the 1990s. (Marks and Spencer did not accept credit cards until 2001)

Helen Young: When we first got married [1972] we didn’t have anything. We didn’t have any HP, no credit cards, we didn’t have things like that. And it’s not that long ago. I don’t feel old and yet people talk about it and you laugh and think ‘we were like that as well.’ I think Access was my first card.

I’m not altogether sure. I had one till mid-eighties or late eighties. I bet I never had a credit card until then. (PF37-3)

George Davies, in cohort 1, who ensured that his credit card was paid in full and on time every month reflected the typical response of nearly all respondents.

George Davies: It’s with a standing order and its always the full amount. Int. That’s interesting. There are completely different ways o f doing this. George Davies. If we spend x pounds on the credit card in January we

will pay it in full on the 24^^ February when they ask for it. There’s never ever any credit on that. (PM08-1)

Joe Moore, in cohort 2, was also a committed credit card user, but was also adamant about repayments and explained why.

Int. Could you describe a typical occasion when you would use a credit card? Joe Moore: More or less everything, everyday, whatever we can. But it’s always paid off before the end of the month. Before we are charged interest.

(CM32-3) The majority of respondents were equally keen to avoid paying interest charges.

Janice Lee, a single house holder in cohort 3, had a credit card but restricted its use to simply accommodate her monthly income.

Janice Lee: I’m using it when I think it might be a bit more secure or when I feel a bit more secure by using it. And I’m using it so that I can balance my outgoings. I pay my credit card off each month. I don’t have anything left on it. It’s paid off straight away. (SF42-3)

Only a small minority of the sample used credit cards to supplement their income and delay payments on purchases. Paul Wood, in cohort 2, obtained a credit card in the early 1970’s and probably describes a reaction experienced by many respondents when first using the new card.

Paul Wood: I can remember credit cards when they first came out. There was a little kind of a psychological thing there where you were a little reticent about having to use a card. But then you come to the conclusion after not very long that it was a good thing and it enabled you to buy lots of things that you might not be able to buy immediately. I took advantage of it I have to say certainly in the family circumstance. So I would have used it more then. (PM18-2)

Spreading the repayment for longer than a month incurred interest charges. Paul Wood subsequently had used the credit facilities as it was ‘a way of coping’.

Paul Wood: In the past, I have had credit card debts of a thousand pounds probably for all sorts of reasons. Even then I was not too happy about it, but it was a way of coping. (PM 18-2)

Gerald Hughes, in cohort 1, similarly in the past, had found certain circumstances where the credit facility had proved to be convenient.

Int. You wouldfor example forego buying something to avoid using credit? G erald Hughes: Well I have made use. I have over run. I have had a cash flow situation and I have occasionally used it but deliberately not

accidentally. Just as a convenient, short term, when buying a car or something. Just as a short term. I have done it. I wouldn’t rule it out on ethical

principles or anything of that sort. (SM22-1)

Bill Morris in cohort 3, who was still employed, admitted that he did not always pay off his credit card account each month and used the card as ‘a way of coping’. He was able to accurately control his payments through his online bank account.

Bill M orris: If I use a credit card I will generally pay it off and I will tell the credit card company here’s three hundred quid a month to pay off my holiday which maybe two grand say, and I will just wait until it disappears and I’ll adjust the payment to nothing. I know that there are some things in life that are a lump and then you need to spread it out to pay it back. (PM30-3) The prevailing view, however, among the vast majority of these Third Age

respondents appeared to be that it was essential to pay the credit card in full. Jack Watson, in cohort 1, was often travelling abroad and used a credit card when there was no alternative. If he had a larger sum than usual on his monthly account he preferred to use his bank account’s overdraft facility rather than expensive credit fees attached to his credit card.

Jack W atson: I have a permanent sixteen hundred quid arrangement on my so called advantage gold account so I can run up a sixteen hundred quid overdraft without arranging anything special. So getting it off my credit card and on to my bank account is not a bad idea. (SM34-1)

When asked what advice about money management he might give to a young person today Arthur Morgan, in cohort 3, immediately recalled a period when he wasn’t paying his credit card in full each month.

Arthur Morgan: Always know where you are in terms o f your finances and don’t let it run away with you and never ever leave your credit card

payments outstanding. That’s just horrendous. We did. It wasn’t unmanageable but we realised that we couldn’t pay off one

month and then, of course, its carried forward plus the interest it took a long time. (PM36-3)

After having overcome their initial reluctance to using credit for everyday money management, respondents in all cohorts used credit cards for their flexibility and convenience but nearly all paid the outstanding sum on time and in full. As was noted with car purchase, respondents were very reluctant to use credit and pay interest and were very keen to avoid debt. The minority in the sample who did use credit facilities, when necessary, carefully planned their credit card repayments in order to reduce their credit card interest to a minimum.