Youth Council seeks to highlight cost of credit-card debt

The National Youth Council is mounting a new campaign to warn young adults about the dangers of running up huge debts on credit cards.

The council says two-fifths of people aged between 20 and 29 have credit cards and many are racking up significant debts at interest rates of between 10% and 20%.

This makes credit cards significantly more expensive than a simple personal loan.

The National Youth Council is warning young adults to beware of these costs and not to use their credit cards as a long-term credit facility.

It is also urging financial institutions not to be so eager to hand out credit cards to young people.