more people lying in an attempt to obtain credit

 

More people are lying on applications to obtain credit says UK fraud prevention service Cifas.

The group says that more people have been lying on application forms for loans and credit cards to try to cover up a poor credit history.

Cifas compiles its figures from 270 member organisations across the banking, credit card, mail order and telecommunications industries among others.

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Lies on application forms have risen by 13% from 19,239 in the first three months of 2007 to 21,780 in the first quarter of 2008.

The most frequent lie, according to Cifas, was failing to disclose a previous address where the applicant had a poor credit history.

According to reports, such lies were counter-productive and those suspected of giving flalse information were unlikely to obtain credit anyway.

less people using cheques

The Association of Payment Clearing Services (Apacs) said the number of cheques used last year dropped by 9% to 1.6 billion.

Apacs said that was the fastest rate of decline recorded since cheque use started falling in 1991.

In 2007 more retailers stopped accepting them, with Tesco and Marks and Spencer about to phase them out.

The decline of cheque use, and their eclipse by debit cards for many payments and cash withdrawals, is a well established trend.

Also, many utility companies have increasingly been trying to dissuade their customers from paying their bills by cheque.

Gas, electricity and telecom companies give customers a discount for paying by direct debit, a stance criticised as punishing those who still prefer to use cheques.