With Britain's levels of credit card debt having exploded during the last decade, money experts and consumer bodies have begun to maintain a closer eye on the patterns of charge card usage across each month. A recent study released through the British Bankers Association (BBA), for example, claims that credit card borrowing during the last few months has dropped. To numerous, this reduction in spending has come in the traditionally slow period in credit greeting card borrowing - indicating a predictable seasonal dip in charge card usage. However, figures of credit card spending during the last six months appear to have confounded conventional seasonal patterns in charge card spending. Usually, UK consumers are recognized to use their credit cards heavily in December and also the months surrounding the Christmas period. Nevertheless, figures released by the BBA in early January show that charge card borrowing in December 2006 fell through £ 0. 3bn, while overall consumer
credit during the period of the year grew by only two percent. At the time, David Dooks -- the BBA's director of statistics -- commented: "The annual growth in credit, at only 2%, is low through historical comparison and, although strong Christmas sales happen to be reported, our December figures suggest that spending wasn't fuelled by more borrowing on charge cards. "The BBA's most recent report shows that in the last six months, credit card borrowing has reduced by typically £ 144 million each month - even though reduction in April was short of the by £ 1 million at the £ 143 million drop. The constant fall in charge card borrowing since October last year appears to defy seasonal patterns. This time, Donald Dooks explains: "High house prices and increasing month-to-month repayment costs are causing a decelerate in the mortgage market and individuals are using money from their accounts rather than borrowing to meet their spending requirements. "It certain
ly seems as though the four rises within the Bank of England base rate which have occurred since August 2006 have had a direct effect in consumer credit card spending. By having an effective cap on the mortgage market in position, consumers have begun to spend using their accounts rather than with their charge cards. Another reason for the drop in charge card borrowing could be attributed to much better planning of seasonal spending. For example, many consumer credit agencies recommend much better planning of seasonal purchases months prior to Christmas arrives - budgeting for greater spending levels at Christmas will probably reduce the burden on your levels of credit debt and consumers may have heeded these tips. If you're planning to apply for any credit card or switch to some new credit card provider, make sure you select one with a longer balance move or interest-free period. This will make it easier that you should maintain your seasonal levels of investing, while stil
l remaining in control of your levels of credit debt.






Elisha Burberry is a freelance writer who loves her job and also the occasional glass of red wine.

View this post on my blog: http://creditcard.valuegov.com/will-seasonal-credit-card-spending-soon-become-obsolete/
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