50% of Aussies still have Christmas credit card debt

Although the festive season has well and truly passed, new Mozo research has found that some Aussies have been left with a reminder they’d rather forget. 

We found that 52% of Australinas used a credit card to get through the Christmas period, with one in two (56%) concerned about how they are going to pay it off. 

Despite the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) boom, only 10% of shoppers opted to use BNPL to manage their Christmas spending. 

“Although there has been a lot of hype around the popularity of buy now pay later services, it seems that when it comes to the crunch credit cards are still one of Australia’s most popular forms of payment, particularly when it comes to spreading the cost of Christmas” says Mozo Director, Kirsty Lamont. 

Mozo’s findings come as the latest figures from the RBA revealed that the country collectively has $20.16 billion worth of credit card debt. 

Lamont suggests to Aussies struggling to get on top of their credit card debt to consider a balance transfer credit card. These are credit cards which feature 0% interest for a fixed period of time. 

“Credit cards can be a useful way to manage multiple purchases however, if you’ve gone overboard  and need to get respite from high interest charges to help get back in the black, balance transfer offers are worth looking at,” says Lamont.

At the time of writing, there are 82 balance transfer deals available in the Mozo database, with zero interest offers ranging from 6 to 30 months. Following a quick number crunch, Mozo found that a 12 month balance transfer credit card could save a customer $679 on a debt of $4,200.

Mozo’s three steps to taking out a balance transfer credit card:

• Nail down a repayment plan - The first to getting debt-free is to get your repayment plan sorted. You can do this by sitting down with your budget to work out how much you can afford to contribute to your debt each month. 
• Choose the right offer - You’ll then need to work out how long you need the 0% interest period for. Since you now have your repayment plan, this should be easy to determine. But just in case you need a little help, have a play with our credit card debt payments calculator.
• Leave the card at home - Once you are approved for your balance transfer card, it’s critical that you do not spend it. Not only will this put a dent in your repayment plan, but any spending made with the card will attract the card’s purchase rate and will need to be paid off first.

Ready to start your search for the right balance transfer card for you? Head on over to our credit card comparison tool or get started with the offers below.