Christmas credit card excess warning

Monday, December 19, 2005

Britons are being warned over the dangers of excessive credit card spending in the run up to Christmas.

Christmas is the time of year when experts say credit card spending rises most, and now financial service comparison website MoneyExpert.com is urging consumers to be credit card cautious.

"If you are financing Christmas on plastic, be really choosy about how you do it. Store cards should be avoided if you don't aim to pay off the balance straight away," said Sean Gardner, chief executive of MoneyExpert.com.

"Choosing the right credit card can be a good way to spread the cost of Christmas if you can't pay it off in January. However, as always, it's important to choose the right card for your needs as the wrong one can add to the cost of the holiday period in the long-run and can also cause considerable stress."

MoneyExpert.com says that between 1993 and 2004, credit card spending for December grew by almost one fifth (19.8 per cent) when compared with the average monthly spend.

The website lays the blame for the rise in spending at this time on last minute pre-Christmas sales and the influx of direct mail credit card offers.

Find credit card offers here:
http://www.europinions-finance.co.uk/credit-cards/credit-cards/