Consumers pay a needless £9bn on credit cards

Mar 13 2009

British people are paying over £9 billion interest on their credit cards every year without actually needing to do so, new research suggests.

According to a report by Abbey Credit Cards, 69 per cent of Britons hold at least one credit card with the average debt being around £3,256.

Despite this relatively high level of deficit, over half of respondents had failed to move their debt to a nought per cent balance transfer deal, while 19 per cent said they planned to do so in the next few months.

Callum Gibson, head of credit cards at Abbey, said transferring debt to a nought per cent deal has the potential to deliver an average saving of £443 per year which may also help consumers to secure Car Credit.

"At a time when people are having to manage their finances more carefully, transferring to a nought per cent deal is a sensible way of ensuring your money goes further," he added.

"The new Abbey Credit Card offers the longest balance transfer period on the high street to help customers more effectively manage their existing credit card debt."

The Bank of England recently cut the UK interest rate to the record low level of 0.5 per cent, with some experts suggesting that it could fall again to zero in the future.

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