Credit card sloths wasting billions

Credit card borrowers are paying billions of pounds in extra interest charges because they are unable to pay off their balance in full each month.

Consumers are wasting an estimated 2.3 billion a year on interest payments by leaving the debt on their existing credit card, according to research out today from moneysupermarket.com, the comparison site. It found that 46 per cent of credit card users do not pay their balance off in full each month and 3 per cent pay only the minimum balance. The average debt stays on cards for ten months before it is paid off.

The company claimed that credit card users could be 279 better off by using a 0 per cent balance transfer card.