Doesn’t anyone wonder why credit card companies do not have any moral standing or policies on who they actually permit to have credit cards? I believe that consumers should have more stringent assessment before an application for a credit card is approved. Funds from credit cards are utilised for gambling, paying off other debt, increasing a consumers debt overall and not used appropriately at all. By this I mean that a consumer has numerous debts and does not declare them on an application. Which is very easily done as most credit card companies do not do credit checks of new applicants. The new credit card is then used to pay off existing credit card debt because most companies offer an interest free period when balances are transferred over. I have heard of consumers transferring smaller balances from existing credit cards which have high interest rates to new credit cards with interest free periods, only to have much larger credit card debt within a short period of time. This evolves because the consumer should never have been accepted for a credit card in the first instance, let alone subsequent new card accounts. When are the credit card companies going to be made morally responsible for the ever increasing credit card debt that is ravaging todays society? Maybe one solution would be that banks and finance companies offering credit card facilities undertake an education program to assist consumers in managing their credit card debt more readily and responsibly? I believe that consumers should be responsible for their own actions and I in no way blame the financial institutions wholly, but I also believe that there should be a moral standing that companies should adhere to and a code of practise that financial institutions are legally obliged to adhere to in ensuring that they are only accepting consumers once they have passed a strict criteria in relation to borrowing funds through the credit card system. I know there is a lot of hoop-la about privacy laws etc around the world in todays society. But surely in a world that exists on comparing peoples financial data, checks could be confirmed if clients have other credit cards or other debt. Personal information does not necessarily have to be exchanged, but vital financial data that could ascertain the consumers financial status. I can imagine a more responsible society in relation to debt management of credit cards and I believe it could be achieved if financial institutions were more morally responsible to the consumer instead of to their profit margins. Somewhere in the world, someone must make a stand and make a difference. If the fiancial institutions changed their policy and procedures in relation to credit card lending, then I think a large contribution would be made towards reducing societies overall debt and relieving pressure off low socio-economic families and individuals. Let everyone put pressure on the financial organisations, government and business to be morally responsible for their actions.