Britons Favour Credit Cards More Than Cash

Britons and Americans have much more in common than English language only. For example, they have similar highly-developed credit industries. Great Britain and America are world leaders in credit card use. Though Britons don't like to talk about work and money, it doesn't prevent them from conducting financial surveys on their spending habits. The most recent figures from the British Bankers' Association show that 78 per cent of adults own at least one credit card. More than 3 million Britons own five or more credit cards.

Britons have the same financial preferences as Americans do. They consider credit cards as the most useful and convenient mode of payment. The statistics show that about 35 per cent of Britons regularly use their credit cards for every day purchases. And only about 27 per cent of UK citizens prefer to pay with cash.

People generally carry less cash than they used to several years ago. Almost half of Britons withdraw cash only once a week. Thirty percent of citizens typically have less than ?10 in cash in their pockets, just enough to pay for a bus ticket or a can of Coke.

The amount of cash in people's wallets tends to increase significantly with age. Young people between 18 and 24 years old carry only about ?14. People over fifty typically have three times as much. And it is no surprise: they know the times when there were practically no UK credit cards at all.

The economics of Great Britain faces the similar credit problems as American one. Encroaching credit crisis is felt by consumers through the price of credit: finance charges are becoming higher. Credit cards become more difficult to obtain. That's why Britons take all possible actions to maintain good credit history.

More than half of credit card holders pay off their balances in full each month. They do not use their credit cards for buying everyday essentials and therefore they don't accumulate debt. That shows their prudence and economy: they can benefit from convenience and flexibility of credit card usage while avoiding paying any interest charges.

However, this spending habit is not typical for all Britons. The financial surveys show that 14 per cent of UK citizens make irregular payments that can lead them into financial trouble. About seven per cent of Britons make only minimum monthly payments. And 13 per cent ignore their credit card bills. Yes, there are also people who hope that credit card debts will disappear all of a sudden.

One of the most popular ways in UK to become debt free is balance transfer. As much as ?1.1 billion is transferred from one credit card to another each month. Balance transfer has the potential to become more popular next months as a result of issuing more interest free credit cards. They allow customers to transfer their debts for free, but their introductory periods are generally not long. And as Americans, UK citizens shop around carefully to find the best credit card offers that suit their needs.