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13 October 2005
Britons significantly underestimate the amount they are spending on their credit cards, new figures have revealed.
According to research by online bank Egg, Brits spend on average £357 more each month than they think they do.
This amounts to a massive £4,284 over the course of a year, with the UK's total difference between actual and predicted credit card spending reaching £201 billion.
Britons spend an average of £775 a month on plastic, but when questioned, people believed they had spent just £418.
"Plastic is clearly the choice of the UK consumer when it comes to spending, but our Egg Money research clearly indicates that the increasingly complex nature of our finances means it is often hard to keep track of how much we are spending," remarked Andy Deller, chief marketing office for Egg.
Yet recent research has indicated that the popularity of debit and credit cards is falling, with Mastercard revealing a 3.5 per cent drop in spending on Mastercard branded plastic during September.
Consumer spending has recently slumped, thought to be as a result of rising petrol prices, and fears about the soaring levels of private debt in the UK.© Copyright Adfero Ltd
