A new survey from Consumer Reports finds that about 47 percent of shoppers used their credit cards for holiday purchases, which is actually consistent with the number of people (48 percent) who indicated in a December 6 poll that they would be doing so.
Consumer Reports also noted that 23 percent of these consumers had charged $1,000 or more on their credit cards, and that people using them had spent an average of $896 – compared to the $811 spent by those who stuck with cash. Consumers from households earning more than $100,000 per year averaged $1,570 with their credit card gift purchases.
Another trend cited in the poll was the tendency of credit card users to spend more than they had planned on. Shoppers in early December said that they would charge an average of $636 for holiday purchases.
“Looking back on this past holiday shopping season it was clear that some Americans were willing to open up their wallets. Many shoppers drove up their holiday spending budget at the last minute, which could have been a result of sales and discounts retailers were offering,” said Ed Farrell of the Consumer Reports National Research Center.
However, the news may not be all bad for people who have been working to get their credit card balances lower. Just over one-quarter of these shoppers said that they had already paid off their balances, while 40 percent claimed that their balances would be paid off by the end of January. Another 9 percent expected to settle their holiday debts between now and June.
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