The UK is celebrating 40 years of the credit card as Francis Sheehan from the Herald reflects on Forty years on, has the credit card proved a blessing or a curse. While credit cards have been available much longer than that it wasn't until the 60's that Barclay's Bank issued their first card in the UK.

So, has it all been plain sailing? Like most things it depends who you ask. If you posed the question to the list of more than 1300 suppliers you would recieve an answer much different from asking financial counsellors who now process more than 1.2 million debt cases per year, 75% of whom are related to credit cards.

It's hard to imagine a future without credit cards as so many consumers now carry at least one, others more than 2, and rely on them for purchasing groceries, fuel, gifts and assorted household furniture. Their use is by far the most convenient way to make payment on purchases and as it becomes one of the most accepted forms of payment online its future can only grow.

Whether you think that credit cards are a great invention or the scum of the financial world can't detract from the facts. They are only going to continue to grow and present more problems, but hopefully the convenience will win the day.