2 out of 3 Britons will shop online for their presents this Christmas

UK credit card issuers are expecting 2 out of every 3 Britons to make use of their credit cards and shop online when looking for Christmas presents for family members and friends this year. To cater for this, and with less than 8 shopping weeks left until Christmas, a number of UK credit card issuer have recently launched pre-paid credit cards to ease the concerns of many Brits when it comes to giving out our personal financial details online.

Notwithstanding the concerns we may have over whether or not our credit card details may be stolen over the Internet, with UK credit card issuers anticipating that credit cardholders will use their credit cards in a £50 billion spending binge over the Christmas and New Year holiday season, many are now resorting to this time of year to offer that extra special promotion and thereby get your trade. As a result, this time of year is when you should be making sure that your UK credit card is working for you if you want to make sure that you’re not still paying off your Christmas spending at Easter time!

On the other hand, “If you are not someone who pays credit card interest, why not take the opportunity to make some money from your card provider”, as Andy Britchford, personal financial analyst at moneyfact.co.uk advise. Here, over 80 mainstream UK credit card providers are offering cardholders a range of promotional offers that range from cash-back deals to charitable donations, loyalty bonus schemes to 0% offers. Nonetheless, you will need to make sure you are a “savvy consumer” of your UK credit card. As moneysupermarket.com points out, it is expected that consumers will spend and additional £2 billion in interest in 2007 because of their Christmas shopping in 2006. Some, if not most, of this could easily have been avoided if the credit card used had offered a 0% promotion offer period.

According to Robert Kenley, head of credit cards at moneysupermarket.com, “Opting for a zero per cent. deal means that consumers using plastic for their Christmas spending pay nothing more than the cost of their goods – they just need to make sure the balance is paid off before the introductory offer ends.”

So make sure that you have a very merry Christmas by taking the time to shop around now and ensure you have the right UK credit card when it comes time to do your Christmas shopping online and in the shops and remember that it takes approximately 4 weeks on average for a UK credit card application to be approved and issued.

Richard Smith
31st October 2006

More Information:

• Causes and Cures Of Credit Card Debt
  For some, credit cards can prove a temptation too far, and soon they find themselves in debt. Simple precautions will keep the savvy card holder from such dangers.
• Identity Theft
  Identity theft is a major issue in the UK, and with good reason. It has been estimated that it can take up to sixty hours of work to recover a stolen identity, and in the worst cases, cost up to £8000 to put right. But what can be dome to prevent this?
• ‘Vishing’ – A New Type Of Credit Card Fraud
  With the full integration of Chip and PIN technology in 2005, credit card fraudsters now have to look for ever more ingenious ways to try and defraud UK credit cardholders. Topping this list is a very ingenious and sophisticated telephone scam that fraudsters are using to obtain the credit details of cardholders – ‘vishing’.
  

More UK Credit Card News
Try our feed