Recent consumer trends have brought about a debitization of credit card use with reprecussions for industry leaders and the trailing pack.

Increasingly, consumers - with a greater emphasis placed on affluent consumer groups - view credit cards not as the arm of a necessary credit function, making possible the circumvention of income shortfalls, but rather as a convenient 'cashless' facility.

The contours of this consumer vanguard are outlined with analysis also given to the 'debtor' consumer role, pinpointing where and how the continuation of traditional card use occurs (i.e. where an income shortfall has occasioned card use, together with holdover debt and the accumulation of interest).

The 'charger'/'debtor' dichotomy is a touchpoint for other areas of analysis featured in the report: attitudes to fears and charges; market size and trends; consumer-client communication; and cardholder policy knowledge.

Around 30 questions were asked in total, covering the following topics:

  • What credit products consumers own
  • Why consumer borrow money
  • Dependency on loan products
  • Information sources used when looking for credit
  • Number of cards owned
  • Amount owed on credit cards
  • Frequency of card usage
  • Which providers are used
  • The terms and phrases associated the card provider
  • Factors that determine which card is taken
  • Payment of card bills
  • Knowledge of card features and benefits
  • Frequency of searching for a new card
  • Tendency to incur card fees and charges

To download a table of contents for this report, click here.