Competition Commission publishes final report on store cards

On Wednesday the Competition Commission (CC) published its final report on store cards and the sale of related PPI.

The Commission confirmed its provisional conclusions reached in September 2005 that there is an adverse effect on competition in connection with the supply of consumer credit through store cards and associated insurance in the UK.

The CC found that there is a combination of features which prevent, restrict or distort competition in that market and has suggested remedies to tackle these concerns. The Commissions findings can be divided into two categories, those that deal with store card credit and those that deal with insurance services.

The concerns over PPI highlighted in the report overlap with those identified in the FSA's thematic work on PPI published in November 2005.