The financial comparison site says that over half (51 per cent) of all card holders have been sent cheques tied to their credit cards for use “in emergency situations” but remain relatively in the dark about the true cost of using them.

Around 98 per cent are sent unsolicited and Nick White, head of personal finance at uSwitch.com, said that when it came to using a credit card cheque and protecting consumers from high charges “self-regulation clearly isn’t working”.

“There is a danger that many of the people who these cheques are targeted at will already be at risk of falling into over-indebtedness,” Mr White said.

“The ‘convenience’ of these cheques, coupled with the manner in which they are marketed by the credit card companies who issue them, could push them over the edge.”

To read more about credit cards, click here.

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