'More people' paying down debts
'More people' paying down debts
- Monday, 18 May 2009An increasing number of people are paying down their debts and cutting down on their borrowing in an effort to minimise the potential impact of the credit crunch, according to an Equifax executive.
Neil Munroe, external affairs director at the group, asserted that people are entering into debt with a short-term outlook and are moving to pay back what they owe as quickly as possible.
He said that as people work to eliminate their credit card debt, an increasing number are turning to debit cards as an alternative way to pay.
"I think what you are finding is that people are using them as a vehicle for payment as opposed to a vehicle for borrowing," Mr Munroe stated.
On Friday (May 15th), Apacs published its latest quarterly statistical release, which indicated that while plastic card spending was up 5.4 per cent compared with the same time last year, credit card spending fell by three per cent.
The figures also indicated that debit cards made up some 74.5 per cent of all purchases made on plastic cards during the first quarter of 2009.

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