Women urged to steer clear of store cards
November 30, 2010
Christmas is fast approaching and many people will be heading to the shops to buy gifts for friends and loved ones, and get clothes to wear over the festive season. This is something that High Street retailers are prepared for, and many are now in the throes of pushing costly store cards onto unsuspecting shoppers who may not realise the pitfalls of using these cards to fund their purchases.
Many High Street retail giants have a big push on store cards at this time of year, when people are buying for themselves and for others. Sales staff in the shops are given incentives to sell these cards, and they will try to entice shoppers by offering on the spot discounts on purchases that they are making.
However, officials are warning women to steer clear of store cards to make purchases over the festive season, as these cards charge an astonishing rate of interest with some charging close to 30 percent. This means that consumers with debt of just £500 who pay the minimum amount required each month would spend over ten years repaying the debt and would pay over £500 in interest.
Figures have shown that three times more single women struggle with store card debt than single men, and although store cards are a very expensive form of borrowing there are still nearly 13 million cards in circulation with over £2 billion spent on them in the last year alone.
Tags: clothes, amount, rate of interest, High Street, Retailing, costly store cardsOne financial expert said: ‘Customers who repay only the minimum amount on store cards could end up paying twice the price and still be repaying the debt in a decade’s time. Do not touch store cards unless you can afford to pay off the balance in full every month.’