Store cards Store card investigation

Was it too easy for us to get store card credit?

Which? store card investigation

We asked our fieldworker James Smith (not his real name), a 21-year-old graduate from south London, to pose as a shopper in a range of high-street stores. 

He went to 20 of the biggest high-street shops over a three-day period. Twelve offered store cards, and in half of those, James was offered credit. 

Posing as an ordinary customer, he purchased a variety of items such as jackets and shoes costing between £50 and £100 and asked whether he could get discounts by taking out a store card. 

James then answered any questions the staff posed and underwent any necessary credit checks to see how much credit he could collect. We later returned all the goods bought and cancelled the store cards.

What we were looking for

Credit 

We wanted to know how much we could get on store cards. Our fieldworker is a recent graduate who has earned less than £1,000 this year, so he should be able to get very little. 

Also, the number of credit checks he got over the two days of our store card investigation should have alerted lenders to potential problems.

Credit checks 

We wanted to see whether our fieldworker was made aware that a credit check would take place when he applied for the store card. This is required by the Information Commission’s Office (ICO).

Interest rates 

We wanted to see whether he was told about store card interest rates, ways to borrow and the importance of paying back on time. 

Payback 

We wanted to know whether he was given information on how to pay back his store card debt.