Credit cards offer Christmas 'convenience'
Published On 19 December 2007
Using a credit card to make seasonal purchases can be a convenient way of stocking up on presents.That's according to Donald McLeod, head of cards at Sainsbury's Bank, who said plastic offering zero per cent on purchases was particularly useful at Christmas-time.
"They're very flexible, so if you see something that you really want to get somebody, then you have that flexibility there to do that," he said.
Despite predictions of reduced consumer spending in the wake of the summer's credit crunch, Mr MacLeod expressed surprise that many people will in fact spend more this year.
According to a Sainsbury's survey, 1.4 million people plan to spend more than £1,000 in the last seven days of shopping before Christmas.
But savvy Britons could also shop around in the new year for bargain financial products. "A lot of the papers will have financial 'health checks' with checklists - have a look at them and look at the credit cards with zero per cent balance transfers and there'll be loans with great rates," Mr MacLeod advised.
