Interest on credit card bills is costing UK consumers a total of £6.5 billion a year, according to new alarming figures.
Analysis of the March 2012 official UK Debt Statistics by price comparison site comparethemarket.com found that the average interest rate on credit card lending currently stands at 18 per cent, more than 17 per cent higher than the Bank of England base rate (0.5 per cent).
As a result, it is urging borrowers to choose their credit card wisely by shopping around and comparing deals to avoid making unnecessary debt interest payments.
Simon McCulloch, Director of Money at comparethemarket.com, said, “The cost of servicing credit card debt can really add up.”
“Credit card debts attract interest due to people not paying off the full total each month. This is why it’s worth looking around to find a good deal on interest rates .”
He added: “Barclaycard currently offer a balance transfer card with 0 per cent interest for 22 months and a fee of 2.9 per cent – based on the average customer using our sliders to personalise the savings, the average customer transferring a balance of £2,000 from their current rate of 17.9 per cent APR would save almost £600 by switching.”
