Christmas card may not be needed as public reject festive borrowing

Thursday, November 10, 2005

HSBC is offering a credit card that it claims helps customers to "plan how they are going to repay their debt once the festivities are over", but a new survey says many won't borrow this Christmas.

The MasterCard from HSBC offers zero per cent interest on balance transfers and purchases for nine months, which the bank has stressed is a "no strings deal".

"We know that millions of people will borrow during the festive season but as a responsible lender we can help," said Roger Lovering, HSBC's head of cards.

"Building on the initiative we announced earlier this year to share full credit data for five million HSBC customers, we can guard against lending to those who cannot afford to repay their borrowings."

The HSBC claim about the number of people requiring credit comes in direct conflict with new survey results from MyCallcredit, showing that nine out of ten Britons will use savings or monthly income rather than borrow to pay for Christmas.

"Our research shows nine out of ten people don't intend to borrow to cover the cost of Christmas, and the vast majority of those who do will pay it off within three months, which is really encouraging," said Mel Mitchley, consumer affairs director at MyCallcredit.

Women are more likely to use credit according to the survey – 10.4 per cent of females asked saying they would compared with just 8.8 per cent of men saying the same.