UK Credit Card Debt Rising

The UK credit card debt has rose in the last several months to make it one of the highest in the world. The Christmas season is partly to blame for the rise in the credit card debt as many decided it was best to use the credit cards over saving their money. The consumers in the UK used their credit cards to a total of 2 billion pounds on food and drink in the December. This is more than 25 percent from 2007.

The Association of Payment Clearing Services or Apacs has just released some new data regarding the UK credit card situation. The study showed the UK has 31.5 million credit card holders and of these credit card holders a total of 32.2 billion pounds was spend in the last three months of 2007. This is a huge sum. The sum is the second highest in the world record at the moment and was only beaten by the final quarter of 2004. 2004 was a time when there were more deals available to consumers regarding credit cards, something that has actually changed in the latter half of 2007 and will continue in 2008.

Chris Tapp is one individual’s who has spoken regarding the credit card debt. Chris Tapp is apart of Credit Action which is a charity for debt. He said that many of the budgets are beginning strained in this year and last, which has caused the residents to find alternative means to support their household budget. The credit cards are paying for all shopping expenses including groceries and the other necessities. It should be considered a warning to those in the UK that some people will take advantage of great deals to get cash back, but others will use them to put off paying the bills. Part of the issues is that many of the residents are comparing credit cards to determine which company has the better deal and this has made then put off paying their bills.

Many of the debt charities are experiencing more influx in calls. Residents of the UK are trying to find alternatives to their current debt and how to get out of that debt by calling the charities. Several of the residents who are experiencing a debt squeeze have mentioned that mid January brought their credit card spending for Christmas to the forefront and this has shocked them. They now need some way to pay back the money, but don’t have the actual funds to do so. The debt for credit cards has increased by 300 million pounds since last year. We are now seeing 56.1 billion since Decembers holiday season. Apacs has also mentioned that repayment of the debts calculated by the sums lent in the same period was 96 percent in 2007. This is lower than in 2006, when the repayments being made were at 97 percent. The data for repayment is very important in seeing how the economy is doing regarding that debt.

There are less people paying back the debt, but the good news is more people have been making the payments in the last year than they were five years ago. This helps to see that residents in the UK are taking responsibility. Now that many of the credit card companies are changing the way they are operating it means the residents must take charge in paying of the debts or compare credit cards more closely for the deals.

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