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07 October 2005
Consumers have been urged to make plans ahead of their Christmas purchases, after a poll suggested that a quarter of festive spenders are likely to borrow to fund their merrymaking.
A total of £22 billion was spent last Christmas using credit cards alone and extreme care is being preached by Moneyfacts.co.uk, who carried out the survey, to those who are looking to purchase a new card ahead of the season of goodwill.
Interest rates offered by credit card providers, according to the same organisation's figures, vary wildly from 5.5 per cent to over 20 per cent, making panic borrowers particularly at risk this Christmas of receiving an unsavoury deal.
Customers are being advised to shop around carefully and pay particular attention to introductory credit card offers which may offer zero per cent interest on purchases over the first year, as Samantha Owens - credit cards and personal loans editor of Moneyfacts.co.uk - explained.
"Adding up the potential savings for cards and loans shows that there are hundreds of pounds to be saved by shopping around for financial products. Consumers should not take out the first credit card or loan they see," she said.
A similar survey last year by Sainsbury's Bank suggested that one in five customers would be unable to pay off their Christmas debts by the end of January, with 168,000 likely still to be feeling the sting a year or more later.
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