Credit cards and debt - some stats

The 'Your Commitments, Your Future' report from Standard Life finds just over half of us have credit cards, with the average cardholder making payments totalling around £3,804 every year. Meanwhile, nearly half of us (44%) manage to put money into savings, with the average amount saved standing at £1,680 each year.

Assuming those commitments stay the same each year, people with credit cards would spend £152,160 on their debts over 40 years, while those saving up would set aside around £67,200.

The Telegraph reports that British consumers currently have £57 billion of credit card debt, based on Bank of England figures.

Moneynet.co.uk provides the following figures to show how expensive credit card debts could be for a typical consumer:

• £2,000 credit card debt
• Minimum payments made every month
• Debt would take 22 years to repay in full
• £2,275 would be paid in interest.

By comparison, the same credit card debt of £2,000 could be repaid in four years and 11 months if £50 was repaid every month, costing £939 in interest overall.

A spokesperson for debt management company Gregory Pennington commented: "Standard Life's research shows that many people are paying far more in interest on debt than they are putting into savings. This really highlights the problems many people are facing in the current financial climate.

"Savings can act as a financial 'cushion' should the unexpected happen, which is why they're so important. But many people with debts to repay simply can't afford to save - and it's important that they get the help they need as soon as possible."

Recent Financial Inclusion Centre research estimates as many as 6.2 million households are 'financially vulnerable'. Of those financially vulnerable households, around half are already having difficulties and may need debt help - the other half are 'at risk' of debt problems.