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Consumers stretching personal finances in DIY stores

22/09/2008

Consumers in the UK may be stretching their personal finances by splashing out in DIY stores.

According to research conducted by payments association APACS, £11.9 billion was spent on credit and debit cards in such retail outlets between August 2007 and July of this year.

Meanwhile, £5.3 billion of this total was paid for using credit cards, potentially resulting in bad credit ratings for consumers who could not afford their repayments.

The average spend on a credit card in DIY shops was identified as £69.36.

"Plastic cards are one of the most popular forms of payment in the UK and the last decade has seen a rapid rise in their popularity, with consumers enjoying the ease and convenience [such] cards bring," stated Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS.

Recently, Andy Cobb, Debtline manager for the Citizen`s Advice Bureau in Norwich, suggested that there has been a significant increase in people coming to the bureau with debt problems in recent times, the Norwich Evening News reported.

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