Reading Time: 2 minutes

How Much Does ‘the Average’ Person Owe On Their Credit Card?

It is sometimes hard to know if your own debt levels are more or less than those of people around us. This is because people seldom like to talk about their level of indebtedness. Rather people love to show off new and shiny things they have bought or to spend money on items to impress others but they seldom actually have the money to do so. Most use some sort of credit to accomplish this.

That means that all those nice houses and fancy cars actually belong to the banks and not the people living in them or driving them around.

Credit Cards

A popular form of credit is credit cards offered by almost every bank in the world. You may wonder how much does the normal (average) person owe not heir credit cards?

In South Africa, at the moment there are around 7 million credit card accounts with an average of R33 000 available in credit that consumers can access (remember that the average includes the very rich with their ridiculously high limits).

‘only around 400 000 people paying the balances down to R0 each month’

About 5 million of these accounts are in regular use each month with only around 400 000 people paying the balances down to R0 each month.

For the other 4.6 Million people, their balances are sitting on average at minus R19 265.00 (according to the latest Transunion report).

Tip of the Iceberg

This nearly R20 000 in debt is not to mention their many other forms of credit and debt which they are using to spend more than they have. Though credit providers do not easily hand out a credit card to every credit user, they do like to make other forms of credit available to clients since it is their source of income (lend now and collect more over time ).

Defaulting?

If you are an active credit user and have been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic then you should look into the various options available to you right not from applying for government help, UIF or claiming against insurance on your credit (often mixed with your credit life) if it is available.

‘be aware that the months ahead are set to be some of the hardest economically of your entire life’

If you were struggling to make ends meet before the Pandemic struck then you should be aware that the months ahead are set to be some of the hardest economically of your entire life. If you are feeling the pinch then head to your local Debt Counsellors office (in person after the lockdown) or via the internet to chat to a Debt Counsellor about your debt relief options. Do this sooner rather than later.