Answer to Question #79325 in Finance for Hugh Heron

Question

You have been asked to carry out research about how Australians use their credit cards. How would you store or classify the information you gather? You can choose more than one option. Why would you organise information in this way?

Answer 1

Total average debt per card is now $3,234, with the average balance accruing interest at $2,074.
The research follows creditcardfinder.com.au’s annual Credit Card Spend Survey of more than 1,200 Australian credit card holders, which also found that card holders have improved their spending habits.
In fact, the number of cardholders who spend more than $2,000 per month on their credit card has risen to 24 percent, up from 22 percent last year.
However, more people are paying down their debts, with almost 78 percent of credit card holders saying they generally pay off their balance in full each month compared to 76 percent a year ago. This means potentially 3.5 million credit cards are not paid off in full each month compared with almost four million cards last year.
It’s great to see that more people are taking advantage of credit cards while paying less interest than last year. Credit cards can be very handy when it comes to cash flow and if used properly, they can also be very rewarding with points and other perks like concierge services and complimentary travel insurance.
Rewards points programs are still the biggest incentive for people to use their credit cards over debit or cash, with 37 percent of respondents who said they use their cards for rewards points 12 months ago compared to 41 percent now.