In 2003 a dog in the greater Manchester area in the UK was offered a gold credit card with a £10,000 (€14,500) credit limit and the chance to earn air miles.

Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns Ulster Bank and First Active in the Republic, apologised when it sent an application form to Monty Slater, the pet Shih Tzu of Stockport resident Raymond Slater.

The bank said it had bought the name from a "list broker" and had no idea why Monty's details were provided. The bank removed the dog from the database and sent a hamper to the dog's owner by way of apology. Mr Slater said he was tempted to fill the form in and put a paw print in the signature box.

An Irish consumer was sent a credit card following an unsolicited telephone call that had purported to be a marketing survey.

The consumer was asked a number of questions, including his bank account details, and thought no more about it until the card arrived in the post.

Unbeknown to him, the card provider had used his details to fill out a credit card application form on his behalf. He destroyed the card and a replacement card he was sent two years later.

A short time later he began to receive demands for payments relating to Government stamp duty on credit cards. He ignored these letters and soon started to receive letters threatening legal action.

The complainant rang the institution several times and each time he was either threatened with legal action or advised to pay up and close the account.

He eventually complained to the Ombudsman for Credit Institutions, who awarded him €2,000 in compensation, ruling that the credit card provider had acted in disregard of the wishes of the consumer, who had never opened an account and never requested a card.

A three-year-old New York girl was issued with a credit card a few years ago when her mother jokingly filled in an application form that had been sent to the child.

For occupation, she wrote "pre-schooler" and in a space for stating the reason for wanting the card, she wrote: "I'd like to have a credit card to buy some toys, but I'm only three and my Mommy says no."

The American financial institution, Charter One Bank, issued a platinum credit card with a $5,000 (€3,800) credit limit, a higher limit than that offered to her parents.