More than half of credit card holders currently have an outstanding balance with a third currently paying interest on this balance - on average £121.40 a month, equivalent to £1,456.80 a year. Of those UK credit card holders not paying interest, 68% say they pay their balance in full every month and just 31% are making use of credit card deals, according to research from MoneySuperMarket.
Credit card users aged between 35 and 44 were found to have the largest outstanding balance on their credit card, with an average of £1091.80. Meanwhile, over half (54%) of Gen Z (aged 18-24) are currently paying interest on their outstanding credit card balance, at an average cost of £211.20 a month. The 35 to 44’s came in second (45%), followed by 25 to 34’s (43%) and 45 to 54’s (37%).
Those Gen Z who avoid paying interest every month were found to be most likely to make use of interest free balance transfer deals (32%) and interest free money transfer offers (36%), showing they may be more credit-card savvy than most. In contrast, the vast majority (85%) of those aged 65 and over who managed to avoid paying interest did so by paying their balance in full every month.
