Capital One cautions young credit card users

The chief executive of Capital One has said young people could avoid bad credit, or indeed improve on existing bad credit, by making sure that they pay off their credit card each month - rather than simply handing over the minimum payment.

He said young people should pay off the whole of the balance on their credit cards each month, going against his own bank's marketing.

Fergus Brownlee was appearing before the Treasury Select Committee investigating credit card companies.

Mr Brownlee stated that by following advice on promotional leaflets, the amount borrowers' owe would increase, due to the interest being paid on the outstanding debt.

Mr Brownlee went on to say: "A young person, 18 to 21 years old, should not even be getting into the product unless perfectly capable of repaying in full every month."