Research indicates fewer Britons using credit for holiday season

Posted 2007-11-8

In direct response to the ongoing credit crises and according to debt consultancy Thomas Charles in conjunction with pollsters YouGov, one in four Britons now intend to “avoid” using their credit cards this Christmas season.

The crunch in global financial markets, ignited by the US sub-prime meltdown this summer, led to the bank run on Northern Rock earlier this fall, further deteriorating consumer confidence.

“The research that has been done clearly shows that people are thinking about how much they are spending and they are thinking about spending within their budget,” stated James Falla Director of Thomas Charles.

However, Mr. Falla expressed uncertainty as to whether consumers would actually wean themselves from excessive credit card expenditure during the heaviest spending time of year.

“I think that around this time of year it’s easy to almost make a resolution to do something, but it’s a very difficult time of year to do it - particularly when the natural instinct is to go out and spend more,” he said.

According to Thomas Charles’ research, some 15% of Britons are currently in debt of greater than £10,000. Overall, men were found to be more indebted than women.

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