Concerns have also been raised about vulnerable borrowers having their credit limits increased without asking.
Tom Richardson, an academic who researches debt and mental health, says his own experience left him shocked. He has bipolar disorder, and about a year ago, during what he describes as a severe manic episode, he walked into his local guitar shop.
“I just came in for a bit of a look. There wasn’t anything in particular I wanted,” he says.
However, by the time he left the shop, he had bought a guitar, a ukulele and another piece of equipment. He then went online and bought more, putting everything on his credit card.
“Electric guitar, speakers, guitar pedals, a guitar amp, a trumpet, some sort of bongos, some pads for my computer…