One out of three card-holders to shift credit debt

Nearly a third of credit card holders plan to shift debt between cards during 2011 to take advantage of a lower interest rate.

Around 31 per cent of people with outstanding credit card debt said in a survey that they plan to transfer an average of 1,015 between plastic this year, and just over half of them will do so during the next three months, according to high street bank Santander.

But the amount people plan to transfer between cards has fallen steeply during the past two years and is less than half the 2,290 consumers planned to shift at the end of 2008.

Many people are still repaying debts they accrued some time ago, with four out of ten people admitting they still owed money they spent Christmas 2009.

Ian Coles, director of Santander Cards, said: "The fact that the average amount being transferred has fallen considerably over the past couple of years would suggest that consumers have reined in their spending and that credit cards are being increasingly well managed."