Brits have been lent nearly five million credit cards worth 17 billion pounds without having to prove their income.

According to a credit survey by uSwitch.com, in the past 12 months 84 percent of successful credit card applicants, 4.8 million were not asked to provide any proof of income to support the figures stated in their application form.

Even more shockingly, 14 percent of people were given a credit card without being asked about their salary or outgoings during the application process, only 8 percent of people were actually asked for proof of income or outgoings.

To get hold of the credit cards, 5 percent of people lied about their salary when applying, adding up to an additional 70 percent onto their actual income.

The website says after the credit crunch dominating consumer finance and the mortgage market becoming increasingly challenging, affordability checks should be the number one priority for credit providers.

It says credit card spending in the UK now totals 146.4 billion pounds, which is the equivalent of 10 percent of the UKs total personal debt at 1,430 billion.

Uswitch.coms figures reveal there are now 69.5 million credit cards in circulation with a total credit limit of 177 billion pounds.

Simeon Linstead, head of personal finance at uSwitch.com, says " The fact remains that just because a consumer appears to have a suitable credit score, it does not mean they are always honest about their income and actually have the cash available each month to pay the bill.

“The credit squeeze will back some consumers into a corner and, in sheer desperation, people will resort to lying about their salaries as this is such an easy loophole to exploit.

"Back in April, we uncovered that 20.9 billion pounds was advanced in personal loans in the previous 12 months without any income checks being carried out, so this problem is not exclusive to the credit card market. Further credit checks could be a costly exercise for the lenders and could lead to a decline in the number of accepted applications. However, it could be a small price to pay if it helps to curb bad debt write offs and personal indebtedness.”

This spate of bad lending practices couldn’t be coming at a worse time with the cost of fixed rate mortgage reaching a 10 year high.

According to Moneyfacts.co.uk, the average two year fixed rate stands at 6.75 percent, the highest rate seen in the last 10 years. Customers looking to fix their mortgage for five years are also paying the price as the average rate has increased to 6.72 percent.

Darren Cook, head of mortgages at Moneyfacts.co.uk, says "Many borrowers prefer fixed rate deals, particularly in today's economic climate as they struggle to keep outgoings under control. However, many are likely to find this increased cost too much to bear.

"If the current economic climate persists, it is not unreasonable to predict that we may see a situation where a higher proportion of borrowers are on their lender's SVR, rather than on an actual mortgage deal.”

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