$70,000 Aussie credit limit 'leads pensioner to amass $36,000 debt'

A pensioner has accumulated $36,000 of debt after being given a $70,000 credit limit.

A pensioner's wife has hit out at banks after her husband was given a $70,000 Aussie credit limit.

Pauline Stubbs discovered the amount and the $36,000 debt her better half was in when he was in hospital receiving cancer treatment, the Herald Sun reports.

His ANZ credit card had a $46,000 limit and his Commonwealth Bank product had a $25,000 cap.

She questioned whether the organisations check an individual's circumstances before offering them money.

"How in the hell could they think a pensioner could really afford this? We are not secret millionaires," Mr Stubbs added.

Mr Stubbs amassed a $18,600 debt on his ANZ card, but the bank has agreed to wipe it with spokesman Stephen Ries noting it was an error to approve this credit limit level for the pensioner.

Earlier this week, the Australian Bankers' Association stated it would not be beneficial to ban limits on credit cards.

By Emma North