1 in 3 New Zealanders willing to take on credit card debt to pay for holiday or leisure

At CreditCardsCompare.co.nz we are always trying to uncover information about the credit card industry,but our recent survey threw up some surprises even for us,so we’ve decided to publish our findings on here.

1 in 3 New Zealanders will take on credit card debt to pay for holiday or leisure,and another 1 out of 10 will take on credit card debt to go shopping.

Withcredit card debt in New Zealandrising to over $7 billion dollars(as of November 2018),New Zealanders’ attitude towards credit card debt is surprisingly relaxed according to our recent survey where 1 in 3 said they will be willing to take on credit card debt to pay for holiday or leisure.Another 1 out of 10(11.68%)said they will take on credit card debt to go shopping,and almost 1 in 3 said they will use their credit card to purchase big-ticket items such as a fridge,TV,washing machine etc.

It seems as a nation we are not shy to take on credit card debt to have a bit of fun.In fact,1 out of 20 of Kiwis(5.61%)said they will take on credit card debt to pay for partying and drinking!

The chart below shows,by percentage,what New Zealanders are willing to go into credit card debt to pay for.

Cause of credit card debt in New Zealand

Almost 1 out of 2 (46.51%) said they got into credit card debt to pay for holiday or leisure, and about 1 out of 10 said they got into credit card debt to pay for partying and drinking

Things got more interesting when we asked people with existing or previous credit card debt what caused them to go into credit card debt, almost 1 out of 2 (46.51%) said they got into credit card debt to pay for holiday or leisure, and about 1 out of 10 said they got into credit card debt to pay for their partying and drinking.

Sadly, 1 out of 5 Kiwis surveyed said they used their credit card to pay for day to day expenses such as food, groceries and bills, and 1 out of 3 said they got into credit card debt to pay for an emergency.

The chart below shows, by percentage, what caused Kiwis to go into credit card debt

Most popular credit cards types

The most popular credit card type by far is a Rewards credit card

The most popular credit card type by far is a Rewards credit card with almost 1 in 2 Kiwis surveyed saying they are interested in a credit card with rewards. The second most sort-after credit card type is a Low interest credit card with almost 1 in 5 opting for a credit card with a low interest rate.

No-annual fee credit cards are the third most sort after credit card type followed by balance transfer credit cards and Interest free credit cards.

The chart below shows, by percentage, what credit card type New Zealanders are interested in.

Number of credit cards per person

43% of those surveyed said they owned 2 or more credit cards, and just 20% said they did not own a credit card.

When it comes to credit cards it seems one just isn’t enough for us Kiwis with 43% of those surveyed saying they owned 2 or more credit cards and just 20% saying they did not own any credit card.

The chart below shows, by percentage, how many credit cards each New Zealander owns.

Generational attitude towards credit cards

Baby boomers are less likely to take on credit card debt with 30% of baby boomers saying they will never take on credit card debt compared to 25% of Millennials and just 9% of Generation X saying they would never take on credit card debt.

The chart below shows the percentage from each generation that said they will never take on credit card debt.

Generation X are also more likely to take on credit card debt to pay for holiday and leisure with almost 1 out of 2 (48%) saying they will be willing to go into debt to pay for their holiday or leisure activity. In contrast, only 18.18% of Baby boomers are willing to take on credit card debt to pay for holiday or leisure, and 31% of Millennials.

The chart below shows the percentage of people from each generation that said they will take on credit card debt to pay for holiday or leisure.

Interestingly, the figure narrows down a bit when we asked individuals with existing or previous credit card debt what caused them to go into credit card debt. 24.24% of baby boomers said they got into credit card debt to pay for holiday and leisure compared to 37.74% of Generation X and just 22.58% of Millenials.

The Gender Divide

The majority of both men and women surveyed indicated that they will be willing to take on credit card debt to pay for an emergency or medical expense, the main difference between the two genders was that males are more likely to take on credit card debt to pay for big-ticket items such as a TV, Fridge, Couch etc while women are more likely to use their credit card to pay for a holiday or leisure activity, but overall, the spending pattern is relatively similar across both genders with 29.91% of men also saying they would take on credit card debt to pay for a holiday compared to 36.67% of women.

The chart below shows, by percentage, what men will be willing to take on credit card debt to pay for

The chart below shows, by percentage, what women will be willing to take on credit card debt to pay for

Credit card debt in New Zealand

Forty one percent of New Zealanders surveyed said they are currently carrying a credit card debt and 15.3% said they had previously carried a credit card debt.

The chart below shows the percentage of New Zealanders who currently or previously carried a credit card debt.

METHODOLOGY

This survey was commissioned by CreditCardsCompare.co.nz and conducted online between August - November 2018. This survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology contact media@creditcardscompare.co.nz

We define each of the generations listed in our studies as follows:

Baby Boomers: aged 54 - 72, Generation X: aged 38 - 53, Millennials/Generation Y: aged 18 - 37