An update on credit cards

Since our last update about credit cards in November 2024, we've been contacted by many Islanders who are still concerned about the lack of options to obtain a credit card in Jersey for shopping or travelling purposes.

With the majority of the Island’s banks still not providing credit cards, and other popular national credit cards such as M&S, American Express, Barclaycard, Amazon and Virgin being denied to, or taken away from, Islanders, consumers in Jersey rightly remain concerned.

As reported previously, the Government is working to link our electoral registration system to the wider UK system. As part of this work, they are also liaising with Guernsey and the Isle of Man, who are in a similar position to Jersey.

The Government have been working to address a legal issue preventing the supply of information to Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs).

The good news is that they have now received the approval to proceed with the necessary drafting instructions to remove this barrier.

This means that they must now go through the legislative process, which will enable the supply of information to CRAs that the agencies require.

The legislative process itself might be time-consuming, but ultimately, this legislation will help remove the processing inefficiencies in Jersey that prevent us from being able to access many credit cards.

The Jersey Consumer Council would like to thank the Government’s Department of Economy for continuing to pursue this issue.

This remains an important issue for the Council and one we want to see resolved. We’ll update you again when things have progressed to the next stage.