Christmas credit binge looms
Don’t let your credit card debt get out of hand this Holiday. With credit card minimums doubling, it could hurt in January.
SHOPPERS have been warned not to let their credit card debts run out of control this Christmas as figures show an increase in the numbers of people applying for cards.
Credit information provider Baycorp Advantage said there will be 875,000 applications for credit cards in October, November and December, up 90,000 or 11 per cent on last year.
Baycorp managing director Andrew Watt said there had also been an 8 per cent increase in the number of personal loan applications.
The figures showed there was an increase in the appetite for credit this Christmas, Mr Watt said.
Credit card applications for the whole year would be 15 per cent higher than in 2004, he said, fuelled by the introduction of new products and increased competition among lenders.
“Competition is delivering benefits for consumers but we encourage consumers to make sure they have carefully considered their finances before applying for a new card or loan,” Mr Want said.
“Consumers need to be realistic in considering whether they can meet repayments every month because, even with a good credit history in the past, defaults on repayments can cause problems accessing credit you may need in the future.”
Australian Consumers’ Association (ACA) senior policy officer Nick Coates said consumers changed their spending patterns at Christmas and many people let their credit card debt get out of hand.
“The concern there is that you get disciplined credit card users who repay their monthly balance in full, month in month out, and at Christmas time that changes,” he said.
The Rest
More money saving tips
[tags]Christmas, credit, save money, credit card[/tags]
Comments
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
