Credit Cards Celebrate 40th Anniversary

Thursday the 29th of June marked the 40th anniversary of the credit card in Britain.

Barclaycard launched its first card on June 29th 1966 to just over one million customers.

Today it can claim 11.2 million holders, contributing to the 32 million credit cards in use in the UK, with the average credit card carrier holding 2.4 cards.

However, whether the anniversary is cause for celebration or regret remains open to question, with many blaming credit cards for Britain's spiraling levels of consumer debt, now nearing