Aussies 'struggling to access credit cards'

Problems accessing credit cards could be causing financial pain for Aussies.

Such is the assertion of a new report - Trends In Personal Insolvency In Australia - from the University of Melbourne, which also reveals that excessive use of credit cards - often multiple cards - and loans has been a factor in bankruptcies over recent years.

Peter Vince, a long-time trustee in bankruptcy, claims that there has been a recent increase in debtors inquiring about filing for insolvency as they suffer from a continued tightening of credit card lending.

"In the past when they needed more these people have added extra credit cards or increased their existing credit limits and now they are finding it hard to get credit," he tells the Sydney Morning Herald.

The report also shows that in 2008 some 27.6 per cent of non-business related bankruptcies could be attributed to people becoming unable to manage credit cards and personal loans, an increase from the 13 per cent of cases that happened in 1997 for this same reason.

However, a recent Money AU article reported that having a credit card and consistently being able to clear off their debts can help borrowers show to lenders that they are responsible with managing money.