Consumer advocate Eddie Hobbs has accused credit card companies of "harvesting" young people for every euro they can get.
Mr Hobbs said such companies had a duty to act responsibly when dealing with young people, but few did. Speaking at the launch of a plan by the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) to address credit card debt, he described the cards as a "gateway drug" to a life of credit addiction.
"When you marry youth and a lack of hard-nosed life experience with these portable high-cost loans, you have a potent cocktail," he said. "An extra duty of care needs to be exercised by those selling credit cards to young people. There is very little evidence of any dynamic in this direction, but plenty of evidence of credit card companies harvesting our youth for every euro they can get."
More than 40 per cent of people aged 20-29 have a credit card. The NYCI said there was growing evidence that many young people were getting into debt, with an increasing number contacting the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, which advises people in financial difficulty.
The NYCI recommended that the Competition Authority examine the cost of credit cards and that consumers only pay interest on the balance that remains every month after they have made a payment. It also wants compulsory information for consumers on how much they should pay to avoid charges and how long it would take to pay off a debt if they made the minimum monthly payments.
