Car Fuel By Credit Card 'Costs More'

Nearly two thirds of domestic petrol purchases are made by credit card, according to new research by a credit group.

The findings by Equifax reveal that more that 58% of us use credit cards to pay

for our fuel, just as a further rise in petrol prices is to be debated by MPs in the House of Commons.

Equifax said that using a credit card to pay for fuel can have quite serious consequences for their finances if, like half of the people in the survey, they don’t pay off their credit card balance in full at the end of every month.

“It’s not surprising that motorists opt to use their credit card when

filling up” explained Neil Munroe, External Affairs Director, Equifax. “Not many people will be carrying around at least £50 in cash. But what is worrying is that for over 10%, they are only paying off the minimum on their credit card each month. And a further 18% are paying off less than 25% of their balance.

"What this means is they’re paying a lot more for their fuel than just the £1.36 or so per litre – and more for diesel. Indeed, with 1 in 5 saying they believe it will take them more than a year to pay off their credit card debt in full, the interest accrued will be

quite considerable.”

The Equifax research looked at credit card usage around the UK. Whilst there were limited regional variances, the figures did illustrate the considerable dependency on some form of credit for many UK households.

Equifax said that across the UK, 91% of those surveyed said they have at least one credit card, with nearly a third having at least two and over 20% relying on at least three different cards.

Some 63% of credit card users nationally say they use their cards for everyday living expenses, with 58% using their card to pay for fuel.

Nearly a quarter of credit card users having an outstanding balance of between £1,000 and £5,000, with interest payments adding quite considerably to monthly living expenses.

(DW)